The Season Eight That Lives in My Head, and I Wish it Would Get Out
by VioletStella
Summary: An alternate universe season eight in which there is more than five minutes of actual romance. (No, I haven't timed it.)
1. Preface

The Season Eight That Lives in My Head...and I Wish it Would Get Out of There

I promised myself I wouldn't post any of this until it was finished because I hate it when other writers start a piece and never finish it. So much for a promise to myself and to my readers. After long deliberations and a reality check with a very nice person (thank you again, you know who you are) I am starting to post. I'm taking the, "I need to get this off of my computer and maybe that will help clear my mind about it" tack.

I've been working on this piece for too long, and this week has been especially frustrating. This ancient, decrepit computer has been acting up; the cable has gone out and, well, let's just say there isn't enough chocolate on this planet to deal with my mood this week.

So you may be wondering what 'this' is. Here's a show I haven't really thought about for 20 years. (Has it been that long? Yikes, where does the time go?) Last summer I'm flipping through the channels and there's "Who's the Boss?" I think, "I wonder how this show has stood the test of time?" So I watch, and season eight airs. Out of curiosity I watch from the perspective of having been through it once. I find myself surprised that after all this time...it still annoys me. Who knew?

I think back to my expectations of season eight. If I am remembering properly (and I am reasonably sure that I am), everyone knew going in that this was going to be the final season. OK, fine, that's inevitable, yes? Was it unreasonable of me to hope that they might actually take the opportunity to focus on the romance? Apparently. They had the opportunity to do nothing but romance the whole season; but let's examine this closely, how much romance did we get? A couple of minutes at the end of the first episode, a few minutes at the end of the final episode, and the most romantic episode of the season? An alternate universe, so technically it didn't even happen. (Not that I am complaining, for a complete episode it's the best of the season.)

(And I'm not knocking the end, it was great symmetry. They jumped through a lot of hoops to get there though, and the same thing could have been accomplished with far less muss and fuss. See an upcoming chapter, and when I say upcoming I mean, far down the line, don't expect it soon.)

So fine, they went with comedy over romance. It's a sitcom, it makes sense. I'm writing a sitrom.

I want to say a few words about characterization. If it's inevitable from season one, episode one, that there will someday be a final episode, why does characterization fly out the window when it is time for the denouement? Is no one thinking about this at any time? Is it really so difficult to write the same characters, just more romantic? (Note: this seems to be a common problem when shows get to this point.)

There are two moments really stood out to me:

1. The second episode of the season. Everyone has forgotten the night before. Samantha, Jonathan and especially, Mona, all seem to be suffering from amnesia. And here we start the destruction of Mona's character. This is Mona, the first thing she would do is march up to Angela's room, knock on the door and hope she wasn't alone. And if she was alone she'd grill Angela for details about the previous night. (Come to think of it, she'd grill Angela for details even if she weren't alone. Not those details, the details of what happened after the rest of the group left Tony and Angela alone...at the fair.)

And here's where I start over-thinking...how and when did Tony and Angela get out of that swan? Did everyone else in the family give up on them and go home? And if so does that mean they took more than one car to the fair? They would have had to, wouldn't they? Did the rest of the family hope Tony and Angela got a room somewhere and abandoned them? Were they not at all curious as to where they were when the fair ended? There's just too much strained credulity here. Angela building her House of Lies throughout the episode is rather fun though. And she does speak for all of us when she says she'd like to enjoy her relationship with Tony. We would have liked to have seen that too, Angela.

And here's the second moment when the 'willing suspension of disbelief' came to a screeching halt:

Sam's wedding. The wedding itself? Didn't care then, still don't care now. Actually it wasn't the wedding so much as Sam saying something to the effect of, "it's like you being without Angela." (Do you hear those screeching brakes?) Sam's known this guy for what, two months? She's comparing this relationship to a relationship in which the two principals have been learning from each other and growing together for years. Tony uses his street smarts and coolness to eradicate the vestiges of Angela's wallflower tendencies while Angela inspires Tony to build his life in directions he didn't know it could go by the strength of her friendship and the tenderness of her heart.

And let's think back to when Tony and Angela had known each other for only two months, were they thinking about being married? No. If Sam had said something like, "I don't want to make the mistakes you and Angela made," then that would have at least been an interesting argu...conversation. Hmm, come to think of it...no, not writing it.

I have other thoughts on other episodes, but those cited above are the most relevant to my decision to write this. Wait, I had a choice in this? I thought I was just submitting to character harassment...they don't leave until I write this. Can I sue for character harassment? Hmm, might be a little difficult against fictional characters, wouldn't it? Oh well.

When I started I thought it would just be a couple of chapters...four at the most, just to throw in some romance. The Muse had other ideas; every time I think I am done with a chapter, it throws another idea into the mix. So my original idea of four chapters is up to at least ten (non-consecutive) chapters by now with no end in sight.

Well, Muse, I don't have the luxury of time to work on this anymore. I thought I would be able to accomplish quite a bit on this this week, but the time I have been able to devote to it has been negligible. It's been a frustrating week in which I keep asking myself, "why am I bothering with this in the first place?" I still have no answer for that.

So...where was I...oh yes, since the first six or so chapters are done I have decided to post a chapter a week in the hope that by the time I post the last completed chapter I will have another one done.

I hope.

We'll see.

If I don't ever finish, I am sorry. I will at least post a summary. Please keep in mind while reading that, "Tony Micelli, This is Your Life" and the episode where they remodel the master bedroom stay intact (the latter because it needs to be done and the former because it's actually romantic.)

And now that I feel like I am back in college and dissecting a novel, it's time to give it a rest. I just wanted to express some thoughts that were the catalysts for "The Season Eight That Lives in My Head...And I Wish it Would Get Out of There".


	2. Sock Hop

July 1991

Summer in Fairfield always brought with it the annual round of graduation parties, weddings and charity events. However, this summer, in addition to the usual activities, the town was sponsoring a sock hop at the high school gym. Angela had dropped a hint to the organizers regarding entertainment and through that Tony and the Dreamtones picked up a paying gig. Angela was very grateful for this because it made Saturdays much more fun. The guys held rehearsal at the house, and she enjoyed every second of playing hostess. Mona enjoyed every second of watching Angela watch Tony; which, in Mona's opinion was just as much as she watched him in concert, namely: constantly. Knowing that Angela would as always deny any comment on such an observation, Mona just shook her head and wondered if the two of them would ever manage to get together.

The night of the sock hop arrived, and with it mixed emotions for Angela. She was happy that Tony would have a chance to shine onstage tonight, but she'd miss the guys coming over to rehearse. The thought that it wasn't rehearsal she'd miss so much as it was a chance to watch Tony sing was one she squashed before it had a chance to fully form in her mind.

Fifties attire was required, and the family did not disappoint. Sam wore a floral sundress with a full skirt; Jonathan went greaser with jeans, white t-shirt, black leather jacket and slicked back hair. Tony and the Dreamtones were adopting a scholarly look tonight by wearing red letterman sweaters with white trim. Mona took the opportunity to honor Marilyn Monroe by wearing a scoop necked, pencil skirted pink satin dress, which was accented by a long sash tied in the back allowing her plenty of opportunity to use the fabric flirtatiously.

Angela sighed as her mother came into the house to show off the dress, she wasn't surprised her mother chose this dress, she just once again wished she had a little of her mother's joie de vivre. She always felt like such a wallflower compared to her mother and tonight was no different. As she stood there in her poodle skirt, sweater, pearls and ponytail; Angela suddenly felt a little sad about the evening. The dance hadn't even started yet and she already knew she'd be watching from the sidelines instead of participating.

If Angela had known Tony's thoughts as he gazed at her, she wouldn't have judged herself so harshly; but as she was turned away from him, she didn't see the way his eyes barely acknowledged Mona's presence to continue to focus on her. He thought Angela looked, there was no other word for it; sweet. In his mind they were living out a past that never was; a past where he would be escorting his best girl to the dance tonight. It was a nice dream, one in which he could pretend that he and Angela were steadies in the fifties. They'd go to the malt shop, he'd give her his class ring to wear on a chain; ok, so it would be his college class ring, but it still worked; and she'd be there every time he and the guys were singing for a dance.

Tony hoped the surprise number he and the guys worked up for tonight would be a subtle overture to her. It hadn't been easy to rehearse this song as it could only be done when Angela wasn't around, and she was always around. He had to keep coming up with excuses to be out of the house and conduct stealth rehearsals behind Angela's back.

He looked away from Angela a little chastened, this little fantasy world of his couldn't be healthy. The only bit reality had in common with his fantasy tonight was that Angela would be at the hop. He had to accept the fact that Angela would not be arriving at the dance tonight on his arm nor would she be wearing his ring. He was so unsure of where their relationship was at the moment, he didn't dare try to push it forward. Although he was pleased, and a little surprised, by her 'show and tell' game in Washington, he didn't know if her flirting was serious, or if it was just another interlude in their long history of what he termed their 'Kiss Me, But Pretend It Never Happened' moments. He didn't know what to do; if he believed what Angela said about 'show and tell' and pursued her only to find out she didn't mean it, it could ruin everything they were trying to rebuild. The risk was too great, so he remained on the same course they had been plotting for the past seven years. It wasn't a satisfying option, but, for the most part, it had been working for them. Fortunately for Tony his thoughts were halted by the doorbell ringing, signaling the arrival of the Dreamtones and giving Tony something else to focus on.

Sam and Jonathan both saw the way Tony looked at Angela. They looked at each other, rolled their eyes and shrugged. Neither one had ever been able to fully comprehend the relationship between their parents no matter how often they discussed it, and they had discussed it often. They'd finally given up on the whole idea, but recently they'd noticed a thaw in the air around their parents. Sam had informed Jonathan about Mona's admonition to her daughter in Washington and about finding them in the same bed on the train. Jonathan was shocked by that, but not displeased; at least it was a step in the right direction. They both hoped Tony and Angela would take further steps together at the dance tonight.

At the dance Angela tried to have fun, she really did, but as she did not have a partner, dancing wasn't much of an option for her. Of course everyone there assumed Tony was her date, so no one asked her dance, no one dared challenge Tony's place at Angela's side, even if just for one dance. Jonathan did take a Stroll with her which she enjoyed very much, but she didn't want to monopolize his time tonight and encouraged him to spend time with his friends. She spent most of the evening wandering past the refreshment table and talking business with her fellow members of the establishment. Inwardly she hoped all this activity masked her heart, which had been aching all night.

Angela kept to the outskirts of the dance floor, feeling more than a little lost and alone. Tony's commitment to the Dreamtones occupied him tonight and part of her was grateful for that, she wasn't sure she could handle Tony ignoring her without the Dreamtone excuse. She was starting to feel the same way she did in high school; single, unwanted, watching the good times, but not being part of the fun. She longed to dance, to be free and lost in the arms of the man she loved. This thought only made her feel more alone as the man she loved didn't seem to care for her in the way she cared for him.

Whenever the Dreamtones took a break, Angela did her best to stay away from Tony so she wouldn't look like a schoolgirl with a crush. Sometimes she wondered if that's what she was; but always came to the conclusion that this feeling in her heart was far too strong and too long lasting to be written off in such a trivial way. The unintended consequence of her inaction was to create more uncertainty in Tony's mind. He hadn't seen her on the dance floor during any of the sets, which bothered him because he wanted her to enjoy herself. He looked for her at breaks, yet never even managed to make eye contact with her which just made him feel that she wanted to be left alone. This made him sad; as he felt she didn't even want to speak to him. He couldn't understand why she had pulled away again; his confidence regarding the upcoming performance of their surprise song was wavering.

Soon it was time for Tony to confront The Song, and his feelings for Angela. He was under no delusion that the Dreamtones didn't know for whom this song was being performed, and he was silently grateful to them for not mocking him about it. He conjured up a few thoughts of Angela and himself at their happiest moments and signaled to the Dreamtones to start singing:

"Earth angel, earth angel, will you be mine?

My darling dear, love you all the time..."

Angela felt blindsided, she'd never heard the guys rehearse this number and she found herself swept away in the hopeful thought that Tony was singing to her. Her heart skipped a beat even as she did her best to hide herself in the back of the gym; the last thing she wanted was for anyone to notice her go weak in the knees over Tony singing "Earth Angel".

"I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you..."

Angela suddenly felt foolish herself, what had she been thinking? There was no way this was some silent dedication from Tony to her. Ever since they returned from Washington she harbored the expectation that Tony would do something, say anything to move their relationship forward; but he hadn't even so much as referenced their little moment at all. The song became too much for her and she made her way out to the front of the school so no one could see her heart breaking.

This action, although it removed her from the torture of the gym, did nothing but throw her into another form of torture as from the other side of a low brick wall, she overheard a snippet of conversation being held by Joanne Parker and a new resident of the town, Claire Winsom. Joanne was taking a great deal of pleasure in imparting her years of accumulated "wisdom" concerning Tony and Angela to fresh ears.

"Yes, Angela insisted we hire her Tony and his buddies for this dance. It must be nice for their relationship for him to have some income that doesn't come from her," Joanne smirked.

Claire answered, "Relationship? Her Tony? I thought he was her housekeeper," a concept the she was having difficulty with in and of itself.

"_Housekeeper,_" Joanne inflected with as much innuendo as she could, "has a definition all its own in that household," she dropped as though she was letting Claire in on a state secret, all the while lapping up her attention on the subject. Joanne wasn't going to let such an eager listener get away from her easily, so she continued, "he's long been the highest paid _housekeeper' _in town and his workload is so light he has the time to attend college."

This sealed the deal in Claire's mind, and as the two of them made their way back into the gym, without noticing Angela, Claire avidly listened to Joanne spill the details on everything presumed to go on in Angela's house, even though almost everything Joanne said was a product of her suspicious imagination.

Angela was in no mood for confrontation, and this wasn't anything she hadn't heard for the past seven years anyway, so she just let it go. She did silently scoff at the description of Tony as 'Her Tony'. There was no way he was 'Her Tony' when he was inside oblivious to anything she might be feeling and she was out here trying to escape her own feelings; which, of course, wasn't working.

Angela's thoughts were morose and turbulent. She wondered when they would stop pretending to be just best friends and define their relationship for what it truly was. Had they missed their opportunity? Was it even possible for them to stop pretending at this point or had they both become so accustomed to the way things were that it would be impossible for them to create a romantic relationship?

One thought was persistently nagging her; Sam's pronouncement on the train to Washington that since nothing had happened up to this point, why would it happen now? Try as she might, Angela couldn't get this thought out of her mind and it kept leading her to a horrible conclusion: what if she and Tony never did manage to get together? She'd always pictured that there would be a 'Someday' for them, a time in the future when they would be an actual couple.

Sam's declaration hit her with more force than she cared to acknowledge; it was the first time she had ever considered that there might never be a 'Someday' for Tony and herself. It was a thought further supported by Tony's distant behavior both during their time in Washington and since they had returned home. She couldn't understand why he was ignoring what she had considered to be a very blatant admission. Not only was he ignoring her kiss, he hadn't even mentioned the argument she'd had with Christine in the hallway; she knew he had to have heard it.

A realization was dawning in her mind and it was one she was terrified to admit to; what if he just wasn't interested? After all, didn't she have enough evidence to support that theory? Then a contradictory thought entered the fray to do battle against the previous thought; "but if he wasn't interested why did he have so much trouble trying to sleep next to me on the train?" Then she chastised herself for falling asleep on the train in the first place, they had been so close and she'd ruined the opportunity, she might never forgive herself for that. Angela was confused by, scared and unsure of her relationship with Tony; it had never been one defined by normal convention and now it seemed to be heading directly to oblivion.

Her pacing was interrupted by her mother, "Angela, why are you out here instead of inside listening to Tony serenading you?"

Angela stopped pacing to regard her mother incredulously, "He isn't singing to me, mother; and it's not likely he ever will."

"Someone is a little pessimistic tonight."

"I would call it realistic more than pessimistic. Face it, it's been almost seven years and he hasn't ever shown any interest in pursuing a more involved relationship. I thought I made things clear in Washington."

"Angela, come here, sit down; I know you don't want to hear this, but you may have to take more of the initiative. He isn't going to cross this line without a very clear signal from you."

Angela sat down, but was obviously bewildered, "how much more clear does it have to be?" she asked.

"The words 'I love you' would be bell like in their clarity."

Angela escaped from the bench and walked away from her mother; it was useless to try to hide her heart, she knew her mother knew the truth, but she wanted some privacy. "I don't know if I can say that."

"Do you love him?" Mona continued to press.

Angela hesitated and turned completely away from her mother.

Mona noted the defense tactic, but wasn't about to let her daughter slip away from this conversation that easily, "Angela, it is a simple yes or no question."

"No, it is not a simple question. There are so many differences between us."

Still, after all this time, Angela was grasping at any excuse to stay apart.

"Oh, Angela, of course there are differences, your relationship would be very boring if there weren't, and as the French say, 'vive la difference!'"

"Mother," Angela said, finally turning around, but also annoyed, of course she would turn this into a discussion about sex, "Mother, what I mean is we come from two different worlds."

"Last time I checked humanity lived on one world."

"Mother, are you deliberately ignoring everything I say?"

"Yes, dear. If you ever say anything relevant, I'll pay attention."

Angela threw her arms up in disgust.

"I'm not interested in your excuses. If you love him, tell him. If you don't, then stop pining for him."

"I most certainly do not _pine_ for him."

"Angela, who do you think you are kidding? Honey, you can fulfill a parent's most cherished wish for their child, to love and be loved in return. You could have the proverbial head over heels love, why do you keep running away from it?" It was a question Mona had been perplexed by for years. She'd had the profound, 'ecstatic to the core of one's soul' love and all she'd ever really wanted was for her daughter to experience the same kind of love. For too long she'd watched Angela and Tony run from their feelings; sometimes she understood their hesitancy, sometimes it made her angry, they could have so much and yet they continued to live in denial.

"I'm scared," Angela admitted more freely than either she or her mother could believe.

"What are you afraid of?" Mona asked gently, she knew this wasn't an easy topic for Angela. In fact she was a little surprised Angela was even talking to her at all about the subject, so she allowed Angela to be as distant as she wanted during the discussion.

"Everything," Angela whispered.

"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that."

"I don't know; losing him, I guess."

"How do you think you could lose him?"

"It might not work."

"Angela, that's the same excuse I heard from you five years ago. You two have had five years together since then.

"Failing."

"Failing at what?"

"Us."

"Honey, there's been an 'us' for years, you two just keep denying yourselves the best part. Why, I have yet to comprehend. All you have to do is let yourselves indulge in the fun; it won't change the solid base your relationship is built upon."

"It's not that simple."

"It is. Angela, have you ever considered the possibility that you might wake up someday and regret not being completely involved with him? You may wind up regretting all the time you wasted staying apart."

Angela turned away from her mother again, that point hit a little too close for comfort. It was indeed a thought that had crossed Angela's mind every now and then; it was also a thought she quickly banished whenever it dared to even tiptoe into her mind.

Mona continued, "Do you want to remain in this relationship limbo forever? Remember what I said in Washington, Angela; men need to be told and shown. You also have to factor in Tony's insecurity."

Shocked, Angela turned around and addressed her mother, "insecurity? He's the most secure person I have ever met."

"In most instances, yes; but he's very unsure about where he stands with you. You two have some issues to resolve at some point no matter what turn your relationship takes." Mona rose from the bench and walked over to hug her daughter, "there's a choice you have to make; remain where it's safe or let yourself revel in the truth. It's a choice both of you have been running from for a long time; almost five years now, since your second anniversary."

Oh, she would have to bring that up. Angela glared at her mother, pulled away from her and once again chose to be evasive instead of confronting the heart of the matter directly, "I don't want to lose our friendship."

"You don't have to stop being friends. Angela, if you two continue in this perpetual platonic romance it's going to break apart completely at some point, there have already been fissures, need I remind you?"

"No," was Angela's vehement answer.

"I didn't think so. If you turn away from the love you are going to lose the friendship you treasure anyway."

Angela turned toward her mother, stunned, "That doesn't even make sense, mother. How?"

"It can't be sustained. You'll grow apart. I know you don't believe me, but trust me; denial only leads to repression which leads to lack of communication. Soon you two won't even be comfortable in the same room with each other."

Angela didn't believe her; growing apart from Tony was unfathomable, "that won't happen, Mother."

Exasperated, Mona decided to return to the party, but she wanted to give Angela another nudge, "Angela, remember that old saying, 'A man chases a woman until she catches him'; it's true."

Now Angela was incredulous, "Tony has never chased me, Mother."

"Angela, don't be absurd, he's been chasing you for years."

Angela didn't see what her mother was talking about, but the lens she was viewing the past through was very different from the one her mother used. It could be said that Angela was choosing to put too much focus on the most painful experiences of the past few years while her mother had the advantage of being at enough of a distance to see the whole picture. Mona saw the flirting that was so second nature to both of them at this point that they didn't even notice it to be flirting anymore. She also had the perspective of seeing Tony from an objective point of view, one not clouded by emotion. She saw the love in Tony's eyes, the hurt when they fought, and all the small gestures that Angela so took for granted that she couldn't even see them for what they were anymore.

"You're the one who is being absurd, Mother. I can't force him into a relationship."

"You don't have to force him to do anything; you just have to be honest with him. Say the words the two of you have been avoiding for so long; you'll both be so much happier." Then she used her last weapon, she appealed to Angela's romantic side, "I know he was singing "Earth Angel" to you, I saw him looking for you in the gym, and I saw the disappointment in his eyes when he didn't find you."

Angela looked to the ground and shook her head, refusing to even consider the possibility; "you're wrong, Mother. You've always projected much more into this relationship than there has ever been, and it's time you stopped."

"Oh, Angela, denial...never mind; I'm going back inside. Remember what I said, if you don't move forward, you'll lose him."

Now fed up, Mona returned to the dance. There were far too many eligible men inside for her to be wasting her time once again trying to push Tony and Angela together. She'd always thought their biggest problem was that they spent all their time pretending to be best friends when they were really so much more. She'd done everything she could for years to point this out, but they were both too obstinate for their own good. The time had come for a resolution. She knew it, the kids knew it, Angela's whole office staff knew it; but what could she do about it? This was up to the two of them. Mona idly considered how ridiculous it was to leave Tony and Angela's relationship up to Tony and Angela, they hadn't shown they'd been able to guide it so far. Wondering what she could do to put a stop to their recalcitrant behavior, she hit upon the idea of teaming up with the kids. Between the three of them, they'd figure out some way to get Tony and Angela together, after all, enough was enough.

Alone, Angela sat back down on the bench, wondering if her mother was indeed correct about losing Tony. It was incomprehensible to her; how could she lose him now after all they had been through? After all, she was correct in Washington, Tony did come back to her. Angela conveniently ignored the fact that Tony only came back because Christine dumped him; she wouldn't let herself consider what might have happened had politics not played a part. Why was her mother pinning all of this on her? Didn't Tony bear some responsibility in this as well? Wasn't it just as much up to him? Why wasn't her mother lecturing him about the situation? Angela nodded her head once in agreement with herself; she'd justified not taking any action and she was pleased with herself for this decision.

The only problem, of course, was that Tony knew nothing of this decision.

Angela sat on the bench for a long time worrying the hem of her skirt and letting romantic thoughts further justify her decision. Her heart ached for the flowers, chocolates and romance she knew Tony was capable of; in short she wanted him to be the one to make the first move. She longed for him to pursue her, to come up behind her, put his arm around her and pull her close. Was it so very wrong of her to want that? She wanted to be wooed, courted, romanced; she longed for every romantic cliché in the book. She'd spent too long being aggressive in her professional life to want to carry this trait over into her personal life. This didn't mean that she wanted to be passive, just…desired.

Then another thought nagged her, what if it wasn't that she longed to be romanced? What if the root of her problem was she just didn't have the courage to say, "I love you" to Tony? Although she was quite used to rejection in her professional life; after all, it was part of the game, there was too much at risk in her personal life. What if she did manage to say, "I love you" to Tony and he either laughed or gave her a pitying look and let her down gently? How could she manage to face him day after day? Would he leave? She couldn't bear the thought of coming home to a house without Tony in it.

The chance of losing him was too great, it was best just to push her feelings aside once again, by this time she was very adept at this tactic. It was a technique she'd employed many times before, whenever she found herself in what could be interpreted as a romantic setting. Her heart would have a rare moment of being released from the prison she usually held it in, she'd let herself actually enjoy the love she felt for Tony instead of doing her best to ignore it. Always, the moment passed, the feelings were once again smothered and locked away. Tonight was just another night in their long history of such nights. In the morning she'd cover the pain by being overly vivacious, another tactic she employed often, and pretend that tonight had just been a fun night at the high school gym.

Until the morning though, Angela still had to confront her feelings, close to tears, she came to the conclusion that if Tony wasn't interested in her enough to declare his feelings, then she wasn't going to make a fool out of herself by declaring her own. Although this decision could be deemed immature, it was the strongest decision Angela could make at this time. They'd continue on as they had been, it had worked for the last seven years, for the most part, and there was no reason to change it now, no matter what her mother said.

Angela then came to a second conclusion, that maybe she should just give up on going to dances.


	3. Post Sock Hop

The day after the sock hop was a subdued one for Angela, she felt let down, like she had lost something, but she couldn't define what she had lost. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep last night, she kept rerunning the whole evening in her mind, her heart breaking a little more each time she saw Tony onstage dazzling the crowd and herself backing away from him; scared and alone. It was another in a long string of nights in which she longed for Tony's arms around her to comfort her and take away her pain. She finally got to sleep by cuddling up to a pillow and pretending they were once again on a train together. The pillow made a poor substitute for Tony, but it was enough of a crutch for her to finally settle into an uneasy sleep.

At breakfast, Angela noticed that there was none of the usual laughter and bantering. She chalked it up to post sock hop letdown; but what Angela didn't understand was that everyone else in the household had picked up on her introverted mood and was giving her a wide berth. She and Tony barely made eye contact at all.

Tony had not had an easy night either; he'd taken a chance of putting his heart on the line and had nothing to show for it. He'd thought that Angela would love to have "Earth Angel" sung to her; and not only did he not wind up with Angela in his arms because of it, she didn't even see the song being performed. He was disappointed all night; but the morning was showing him that perhaps his idea had been unrealistic from the start. What did he expect? That Angela would see him singing to her and she would rush up on stage and kiss him in front of all of Fairfield? Not likely. Expectations in check, he was back to square one, and once again ideas for what he'd termed 'The Angela Situation' formed in his mind.

Trouble was, none of the ideas resolved the problem of him crossing the line they had been so careful to maintain their whole time together. Over the years he'd ruminated that it was more than a line. Here they were, sleeping across the hallway from each other, yet the distance between their bedroom doors might as well be as wide as the chasm of the Grand Canyon instead of just a few feet.

Mona and Jonathan ate as quickly as they could in order to escape the suffocating quiet in the kitchen. This had to be the most subdued breakfast they had had since Tony had come to live with them and neither one was enjoying it. They kept exchanging glances and silently commenting on the chill in the air between Angela and Tony.

Seeing that fun was going to be in short supply today, Angela decided to shut herself up in her home office and bury her problems in work. Distraction always worked well for her; there was no reason to stop now. She sat at her desk, but her usual concentration skills were deserting her. She was unable to focus on her work, snippets of songs kept floating through her head and she couldn't make them go away. Frustrated, she decided that since it was such a nice day that maybe she should go for a walk to clear her head. Getting out of the house would be good for her. Decision made, she closed the file she was working on and slipped out the door without anyone noticing.

The summer sun did improve her mood and helped her put last night into perspective. She realized that she had over-reacted to the whole evening. It was just a dance, a summer activity; nothing more, nothing less. Her heart had gone into romantic overdrive and had ascribed too much significance to the evening. She rebuked herself for letting her imagination run away with her. Her relationship with Tony didn't depend on one night; it was something they had been building together for seven years.

Angela arrived at a playground, she sat in one of the swings and idly twirled as she recognized that soon they would be celebrating their seventh anniversary, she wondered where the time disappeared to. It seemed like only yesterday she opened the door to two strangers, she had no idea then how much they would both impact her life in such positive ways. She laughed when she remembered that she didn't think the situation would work; the idea had been absurd, a man for a housekeeper. At the time she thought it was just a ploy by her mother to have someone around the house to ogle, that would be just her style; but Tony's instant rapport with Jonathan gave her a glimmer of hope that maybe the idea wasn't so far-fetched.

Angela smiled when she remembered just how quickly Tony had become her friend. He'd been a stranger to her in the morning but indispensable to her before he'd even spent one night in the house. How he managed that always amazed Angela when she thought about it, and now she wondered if there had ever been the remotest possibility that she wouldn't fall in love with him.

Eventually, and she was none too happy with this realization, she decided her mother was indeed correct, she would have to say, "I love you" first. She hated it when her mother was right, but more than that, the thought of saying "I love you" terrified her. Where would she find the courage to be honest with Tony about her feelings for him? How would she even go about saying the words? Previous attempts at confronting their feelings had not gone well, but maybe her mother was correct in this too; maybe it was finally time and if they didn't take the chance they would lose everything.

The thought of losing Tony frightened her more than anything she had faced in her life. This combined with the memories of too many nights spent pining for him, strengthened her resolve to say the words. Now all she had to do was figure out the right time and place. To that end she spent the rest of the day coming up with and discarding ideas for the proper setting of this declaration. For of course there could be nothing mundane about this; this had to be a moment they would cherish for the rest of their lives, she hoped, and she wanted everything to be perfect.

That evening Angela changed for bed as usual, but then made a decision that was quite unusual for her. If Tony wouldn't cross the great divide of the hallway, and no matter how many times Angela had fantasized a quiet knock on the door in the middle of the night, after seven years it still hadn't happened; maybe it was time for her to enact the flip side of that fantasy and go knock on his door. Gathering her courage, she changed into a shorter, silkier nightgown; but threw her usual nondescript pink terrycloth bathrobe on over it. Reckless abandon had to be tempered with some semblance of propriety.

Slowly she opened her bedroom door, the hinges creaked and she made a mental note to tell Tony about that in the morning; or maybe that would be her excuse for knocking on his door now? Her thoughts were becoming scattered, unfocused; the only fact she could truly note was that although the hinge creaking didn't make much of a sound during the day; at night it sounded louder than a jet engine at take-off. Angela was afraid she'd woken up not only Jonathan but somehow her mother as well just by opening her bedroom door. It was an over-reaction, of course, Jonathan had gone to bed hours ago and Mona wasn't even in the house; but Angela was beyond rational thought. Her pulse was rushing, her cheeks blushing and she was terrified she'd be caught walking in her own hallway. She took one very deep breath and forced herself to calm down; she could do this. All she had to do was walk; a simple enough task she performed every day. So why were her feet so reluctant to move now? She leaned against the door jamb, temporarily defeated and angry with herself for being so hesitant to reach her goal.

Angela told herself the time was now; they had no reason to wait any longer. Then as added incentive she reminded herself of how easy it could be to lose Tony to another woman…again. That did it; she took another deep breath and forced herself to Tony's door.

And stared at it.

She raised her hand to knock, but just then the door opened. Tony was just as surprised to see Angela as she was to see him. They both stared at each other in shock for a moment, Angela's hand still poised to knock.

Tony recovered first, "something I can help you with, Angela?" Really, a perfectly innocent question, but in Angela's heightened state of being all she could do was picture all the ways Tony could help her, most of which involved him in as little clothing as possible. She pulled away, clasping her hands together and backing away.

"No…no; it was just some detail..about…nothing," she smiled, now completely flustered. Then the situation became more uncomfortable for her as Jonathan emerged from his room. Jonathan saw his mother grasping for her bedroom doorknob behind her and trying to duck back into her room. He noticed the look on Tony's face as he watched her, it was one of mystification. Angela's behavior tonight made no sense to him whatsoever.

"Jonathan, what are you doing up?" his mother asked insecurely.

"I forgot my magazine downstairs and there was an article I wanted to read tonight."

"Oh, yes…I see…of course," Angela succeeded in opening her bedroom door, "Tony, do you think you could do something about the hinges tomorrow? They are getting a little squeaky."

"Sure, Angela."

She smiled, "thanks, Tony," she tried to evoke a sense of calm as she said, "well, goodnight Jonathan, good night, Tony. See both of you tomorrow." They both answered her good nights and she disappeared into her room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Jonathan looked at Tony for answers. Tony looked at Jonathan and shrugged, giving him an 'I love her, but sometimes even I don't understand her' look and said, "she's your mother."

Jonathan could only raise his hands in defeat, "yeah, but that doesn't mean I understand her either."

United in their masculine misunderstandings, they went downstairs; Jonathan to retrieve his magazine and Tony to grab the glass of orange juice that was his original reason for leaving his bedroom at this hour. Jonathan went back upstairs rather quickly, but Tony remained in the kitchen mulling over all the possible reasons for Angela to knock on his door at this hour of the night. Obviously she wasn't sick or hurt, so she didn't need him to call an ambulance. It was a strange time of night to discuss dinner party plans, so he crossed that off the list too. His imagination taunted him with the thought that just maybe Angela had been so close to knocking on his door because his room was suddenly preferable to her own room; but he dismissed that notion as completely absurd. Angela wouldn't be forward enough to initiate a seduction, would she? He shook his head, there was no way; no way, that that could have been the reason. Eventually he went back to bed, still unable to come up with a satisfactory answer to Angela's behavior tonight, but deciding not to bring it up to her in the morning. If she wanted to talk about it, she'd bring up the subject herself.

In her room, Angela paced. What had she been thinking? The whole idea had been crazy and she regretted the attempt. What if Jonathan had caught them? This opened up a whole new line of thinking for her. If she and Tony ever did manage to move their relationship forward, how would that work with Jonathan just down the hall? Would they have to wait until he went to college? She banished that thought as quickly as it appeared; there was no way she was waiting that much longer. No way. Then she rationalized that other couples managed adult relationships with kids in the house just fine, after all, younger siblings came from somewhere.

It was at this point that Angela's thoughts took a turn she didn't expect; toward how much she missed Billy. Of course she was glad he was back with his grandmother; but his departure made the house too quiet. It had been so much fun to pretend he was their child, there were even moments she forget he wasn't. Now that he was no longer here, the ache for another child, which she had long ago sublimated, made its return with a vengeance. She sat down at her dressing table and thought about holding a sweet baby in her arms. Soon she was lost in daydreams of a beautiful new life gracing their family. She was sure Tony would be over the moon at the prospect of being a father again. Angela stayed adrift in these happy thoughts for so long that she started nodding off sitting at the table. Sadly, she banished the baby musings from her mind, pulled away from the table and tucked herself into bed.

Sleep was again far from restful.


	4. Does Anyone Have a Plan?

I've found I am not happy with posting only one chapter a week. I hadn't intended for there to be such long pauses between chapters when I wrote it, so for this week, and this week only, I am posting more than one chapter.

A few days after the sock hop, a meeting was convened at Mona's apartment. The attendees included: Samantha, Jonathan, Mrs. Rossini by phone proxy and of course, Mona herself. The single item on the agenda: Tony, Angela and Their So-Called Relationship. The group had been dubbed the "Enough is Enough Club" in deference to their views on the situation. Mona called the meeting to order, "All right, everyone, we all know the problem; it's gone from cute to probable to non-existent to 'get on with it already, will ya?'. The point is, how do we get them to get on with it? The floor is open to any and all suggestions."

Various assents were heard throughout the group, but a few minutes of silence reigned as, even though every one of them had long considered their options in pushing Tony and Angela together, as of yet, no one had been able to construct a viable plan.

Jonathan looked bewildered, "we've tried setting them up, leaving them alone, disappearing from the house, what else can we do?"

"There has to be something," Sam threw in, she wasn't quite ready to give up on them yet, she didn't want her dad to be alone. "What if we…," Mona and Jonathan looked at her in great anticipation, "...told them to meet us somewhere only we don't show up? Someplace out of town…romantic…I don't know." Samantha gave up in exasperation, she was at her wit's end with the two recalcitrant lovebirds.

"Why would we be meeting them out of town in the first place?" Jonathan asked.

Sam shrugged, "who knows?" which effectively ended that idea. "What if I tell Dad to meet me someplace for dinner, someplace quiet, and Jonathan tells Angela to meet him at the same place, but we don't show up, leaving them alone with each other."

"It's been done," Jonathan reminded her.

"Hmm, true; but perhaps the timing is better now. Your Valentine's Day plan was good, Jonathan," his grandmother told him, "and five years of continued unresolved flirtation may make them a little more willing to face the truth.

Sam chuckled in remembrance, "yeah, they were so cute, trying to pretend they hadn't been out together."

To this day Mona rued the fact that everyone's favorite non-couple let that moment slip away, "All that work you did, Jonathan, all for naught. This place would have been much more fun if they had just faced the truth," she pouted.

"In all fairness, Mona, it may have been too soon," Sam admitted.

"I don't think so," Mona disagreed.

"Grandma, if it were up to you, you would have had them together on the day Tony moved in."

Mona couldn't argue with that, she just added, "your mother would have been much happier."

Both Samantha and Jonathan shook their heads at Mona. Then Sam laughed outright, "I still can't believe you told them they should have sex, Jonathan."

He grinned, "an eight year old can get away with a lot, and I still can't believe you hid on the stairs and listened to the rest of that conversation."

"Did you think I was going to miss out on one bit of that? I knew Mona would expect a full report. I was surprised that Dad didn't check to see that I actually went to bed."

"And your report didn't disappoint, Sam. The only disappointment was those two and their stubbornness."

Even though Sam had filled her in on the events of that Valentine's Day years ago, Mrs. Rossini started to feel left out of the conversation, she piped in, "hello, remember me?" Here; in Brooklyn?" Mona rolled her eyes. Mrs. Rossini took their silence as a cue to continue, "if we are going for nostalgia, how about the carnival?"

"The carnival?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, the one everyone came to just after Tony and Sam moved to Connecticut."

"Oh, that's good, Mrs. Rossini! It would be easy for us to lose them there," Sam effused.

As much as she hated to admit it, and she never would publicly acknowledge it; Mona liked the idea. Instead she said, "we'll consider it with our other ideas."

"What other ideas, Grandma? Short of throwing them a surprise wedding what other option do we have?"

"A surprise wedding, there's a thought with some merit," Mona said.

"How would we do that?" Jonathan asked.

"I'm not sure," Mona answered, but her eyes were focused far away and there was a devious glint in them. Sam thought that if her Dad and Angela could see that look they'd elope so quickly that Mona wouldn't know what hit her.

"Grandma, unless you are going to call a florist and a minister immediately, could we please get back to the carnival?"

Mona retreated from her reverie at her grandson's request, but instead of dropping the surprise wedding idea, she mentally filed it away for future reference. The quartet decided to pursue the carnival idea, Sam would be in charge of coaxing her Dad, and of course Tony would have no problem with convincing Angela when the time came. Their plan of action set, the Club ended their meeting, hoping that no future meetings would be required.

Shocking as this would be to the membership of the "Enough is Enough Club", both Tony and Angela had been trying to resolve the same situation in their own minds. Of course, it did not occur to either one of them to consult the other; that would have made far too much sense. No, their methods consisted of lonely thoughts and lonely walks and far more introspection than was necessary.

Once again Angela had wandered to the playground and was idly twirling on a swing, this was quickly becoming the one spot she could disappear to and no one would find her, for that reason alone she loved it. Here she could lose herself in her thoughts without interruption. Today's thoughts, of course, once again focused on Tony and the state of their relationship.

Summer would be disappearing soon and with it her chance of capturing Tony's attention. Soon he would be back in school and the whirlwind of activities inherent to his senior year would greatly infringe on their time together. There was an insistent thought at the back of Angela's mind that she batted away every time it tried to bring itself to the forefront of her mind: What would Tony do after he graduated? They'd never discussed it. Would he stay in his current job until Jonathan graduated from high school? Although Angela was sure Jonathan would appreciate that, she was sure Jonathan would understand Tony moving to another place of employment.

Moving.

Tony moving.

For reasons she didn't have to look too far to understand, Angela had come to see Tony as a permanent resident of the house. The thought that he could take another job and move out shocked and scared her more than she cared to admit. How would she ever get along without him? She'd always thought that they were just waiting until he graduated to be together; but what if he didn't see their relationship that way? Angela stopped swinging at a further realization: what if he had never seen their relationship that way? He was the one who nixed moving forward in Jamaica, leaving both of them in a very unsettled state. Angela thoughts were jumbled, she'd never really considered that there would be a day when Tony would leave, and now she was stunned by the thought that she could be confronted by this situation in less than a year.

What could she do? Everything was up in the air between them and if she left their relationship undefined until after he graduated she could very well find herself alone. It was a very sobering thought. They'd played their little games, but her heart had had enough and was demanding she resolve the situation before it was too late. Why were they waiting anyway? Wasn't dating part of the college experience? Angela winced at that thought.

How much longer could she go on in a relationship where she risked losing him? Again. No, she had to do something, say something that would make her feelings for him clear. But how? Nothing so far had worked. Angela dug her feet into the ground to give herself a good push off, idea after idea flitted through her mind as she lost herself in the sway of the swing.

Maybe she should take him out to dinner? She threw that idea out almost immediately; it would elicit too much neighborhood gossip and if she couldn't get an acknowledgment out of him in private, she certainly wasn't going to hear the words, 'I love you' from him in public.

Throwing her arms around him and kissing him passionately? She scoffed at the thought, and silently berated herself, "Yes, Angela, just throw yourself at him, I am sure that would work just fine."

She moved on to the next idea, there was always the ploy of getting drunk. That could work, their inhibitions would be lowered and…she dismissed that idea too, it was cowardly. It may have worked for them once, but they had come a long way since then and neither had set out that night with an intention of winding up in the other's arms.

How about inviting him to stay at the agency's suite in Manhattan after the upcoming _Ad__w__eek_ banquet? But how to make that experience end differently? They'd stayed in numerous hotels together and managed to the same Grand Canyonesque chasm they shared at home.

Angela was literally going nowhere. The sun was setting and the perfect plan still had not presented itself to her. This afternoon had been like a very frustrating day at work; one of those days where the team threw out idea after idea because nothing was working. Knowing the best option on a day like this was took take a step back and focus on another project for a while, this was what she did. She concluded that Tony must be planning something for their anniversary, even if he hadn't shared it with her yet, and hopefully she could turn whatever he was planning into a means to her own ends. Then she turned her thoughts toward finding the proper anniversary present.

It had to be just right, something powerful; something intimate, but not too intimate. Something…masculine, but tender. Something he needed, something that would remind him of her. Something that reminded him of her love every time he looked at it. Time. Perhaps a watch would be appropriate? Angela stopped and mulled over the idea. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. A watch would be something practical but romantic at the same time. It would also be a nice link with the watch his father had given him; one person to whom he was precious had given him a watch and now another person to whom he was precious would give him another watch. Her decision made, Angela decided to start shopping, she'd think about what to inscribe on the back of the watch some other time, she didn't know when, just some other time.

Tony was at a loss; to all outward appearances he was fixing dinner, and he was, but the real work was happening inward. He had been trying to think of the perfect way to celebrate their upcoming anniversary, but not having much luck. It was difficult to plan a non-romantic romantic evening. He'd considered a private dinner for the two of them, that kiss in Washington encouraged him to the point where he thought that such an evening would be welcomed, but he was reluctant to pull out all the stops just in case he had misinterpreted her. It was the same dilemma that had been running through his head all summer: was Angela ready to move their relationship forward or not? And if she was ready, was he? Even as the anniversary grew closer, he still didn't have the answers.

The more he thought about it, the more he shied away from the idea of an anniversary celebration for two. Leaving out the rest of the family on their anniversary was not how he wanted to celebrate, they'd always tried to make this day a family event, and for the most part, they'd succeeded; changing the style of celebration this year could be awkward. What he had to do was find an activity that could have romantic possibilities, yet include the whole family at the same time. It was a problem he had yet to resolve.

Although he didn't know it, the answer to his predicament was about to be presented to him. The phone rang, Tony was so lost in thought that the noise startled him. He hurried to the wall to pick up the phone.

"Hi Dad!" Sam said brightly, even perhaps a little too brightly, but Tony didn't notice, he was glad to hear from Sam, it distracted him from trying to resolve The Angela Situation.

"Hey, Sam; how's it going?"

"Oh fine, fine; how's everything with you?"

"Fine here," he answered, even if it wasn't exactly true.

Sam was encouraged by the uncertainty she heard in her father's voice, "so...the anniversary is coming up and I haven't heard the plans yet; what's going on?"

Yes, she was playing this for all it was worth; with Jonathan standing next to her listening to the whole conversation.

Tony wasn't thrilled with this subject, he was hoping to avoid any topic that even had the slightest connection to Angela. Then he realized that conversations with Sam invariably circled around to Angela at some point; he wondered why he'd never noticed that before.

"Haven't talked with Angela about it yet." A candidate for The Understatement of the Year Award.

Sam and Jonathan exchanged a look; a silent agreement about the state of their parents' relationship; no wonder it had been taking so long for them to get together when they couldn't even discuss anniversary plans. Obviously, their decision to give a little push had been the correct one. Sam prodded, "I'm shocked, Dad; for two uber-planners as yourselves; I'd have thought you'd had this worked out weeks ago."

"Uber-planners?" Jonathan mouthed to Sam; she gave him a 'work with me here' look in return.

"Yeah, well, our powers of organization seem to be out to lunch. I can't come up with a plan I like. We've done a family dinner so many times...I want to do something else this year."

"It is the most hallowed night on the calendar, it certainly deserves your full attention."

"Don't be sarcastic, Sam. I know you and Jonathan...," both Sam and Jonathan froze for a moment, wondering if Tony had somehow figured out he was listening, "...and Mona all think Angela and I go overboard; but it is an important date in all of our lives and should be celebrated as such."

Relieved that her father hadn't realized Jonathan was listening, Sam answered contritely, "yes, Dad; I'm sorry. I'm just surprised, that's all. What other ideas have you come up with?"

"That's just it Sam, none." He left the answer at that, he didn't want to get into a discussion about the current state of his relationship with Angela. How could he? He didn't even know the current state of his relationship with Angela.

Sam sighed, "hmm, movie night?"

"We have movie nights all the time, I want something...more."

"You have dinner all the time too, what's the difference?"

"Plenty."

"Ok, how about a trip?"

"A trip?"

"Family weekend in Vermont or something." Why Sam threw this idea out there she wasn't even sure, all she could do was hope her Dad didn't go for it.

"I don't know how we could all coordinate schedules on that."

"Good point," Sam answered, greatly relieved, "Dad, think; what are some of the best times you and Angela have had together?"

Tony shrugged, "I don't know, Sam; there's a lot."

"There must be something. What's the best memory you have about Angela?"

"Nothing I'm sharing with you."

Sam was taken aback, she hadn't expected an answer like that at all; and all it did was intrigue her. She and Jonathan looked at each other; both surprised.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the train trip to Washington, would it?" Sam was playing with fire here and she knew it, but she really wanted any crumb of a detail she could get out of her father.

"No, Sam; although I will say I thought your comment about us was unfair."

"Why? Nothing has happened; and I don't know what you two are waiting for anymore."

"Sam, my relationship with Angela is not up for discussion."

"Is it up for discussion between the two of you?"

"That was out of line, Sam."

"Dad, I just want you two to be happy."

"That's all I want too."

"Then why aren't you together?"

"Sam, I said this wasn't a topic for discussion."

"Fine. So how about that anniversary? I'll refrain from pointing out to you that for two people doing their best to ignore anything between them that celebrating an anniversary might not be the best way to stay apart."

"Thank you for refraining."

"You're welcome." Sam wasn't sure where this conversation had gone wrong; all she had to do was suggest a trip to the carnival and now her father was coming close to losing his temper. She decided to change tactics; she gasped, pretending as if this thought was hitting her for the first time, but didn't oversell it, "Dad, I know what we could do, remember all those years ago, just after we moved in, we all went to the carnival? We could go there again."

Of course he remembered, they were all still trying to get to know each other, no one really sure if their unusual situation would work. When Tony suggested they go to the carnival it seemed like a good group activity, it was a place where everyone could relax and have fun. Plus, it alleviated some of Sam's homesickness for Brooklyn. The carnival had worked its charms on all of them and even if it wasn't a perfect evening, they'd started forming the basis of the family they'd become. What better way to mark another year together than by revisiting a place that had been so important to them in the beginning? He liked Sam's idea and smiled,"yeah, that was fun; well, except for Angela throwing up on me."

Sam chuckled, "yeah, I doubt it was the highlight of the night for her too. So, what do you think? I'd even put up with spending time with Jonathan for some cotton candy." She and Jonathan smirked at each other over the phone receiver as only a brother and sister could.

"The carnival...," Tony considered, "that's not a bad idea, Sam."

"As long as we keep Angela away from the Tilt-O-Whirl," Sam added.

Tony laughed and Sam relaxed; if he could laugh the crisis was past. Although she was still tantalized by the memory her father wouldn't share with her, she was astute enough to know she wasn't going to pry an answer out of him no matter how hard she tried. She settled for letting it go; for now, hopefully someday very soon both her Dad and Angela would be more willing to talk about their past with the rest of the family. If not, she could work on Angela alone, she was sure she could get Angela to talk; and maybe from her memories she could discern what her own father wouldn't tell her.

"The more I think about this, the more I like it, Sam."

Jonathan and Samantha exchanged smug looks.

Tony continued, "it's a good family activity, with a nod to tradition. I'll bring it up with Angela later." He didn't add his thought that it would also be a good place for losing the rest of the family and spending time alone with Angela; hopefully on top of the Ferris Wheel. He reconsidered, "no, wait, I'll tell Jonathan and Mrs. Rossini; but not Angela and Mona, it will be a nice surprise for them. I'll just tell them I've made plans, but I won't be specific, that'll work."

Sam made a mental note to later tell Jonathan the comment currently running through her head, it was something to the effect of; "Mona won't be surprised, but I am sure she has feigned surprise often enough to pull it off once more." Knowing this conversation was over, she could hear it from her father's suddenly distant tone of voice, Sam called her father's attention back to her long enough to say goodbye. After hanging up the phone, Sam and Jonathan high-fived; pleased that this phase of their operation had worked so well, but both still wondering about the details Tony wouldn't share.

Tony thoughts on the anniversary were coming into focus. The venue was set, now all he had to do was buy a gift, but that would be simple in comparison to the dilemma he'd just solved. The day had definitely taken an upturn from Sam's phone call.


	5. Time Flies When You're Tryingto Have Fun

Actual lines and scenes that should be familiar! However; and I am stating this in advance to ward off any later disappointment, there are no swan boats here. I'm sorry. If it helps, pretend that next year Tony and Angela spend the whole evening on the swan boats.

Angela paced. Back and forth, back and forth; so much so that the jeweler behind the counter was starting to worry she might wear a hole in the floor. As it was he was losing his patience, year after year he'd engraved bon mots and pithy sweet nothings on anything a customer presented to him; but never before had he seen anyone as indecisive as this woman. He couldn't figure out if she was this nervous all the time, or if this was just a momentary fear brought on by trying to put her feelings for this man into words. Whoever he was, he wished this man luck; if she was this capricious all the time, he was going to need it.

Angela was finding it difficult to commit to her plan of action. Her resolution to be honest with Tony was fine in the abstract; the reality was more problematic. Maybe the time still wasn't right? What if he simply didn't care for her in the way she cared for him? Declaring her own feelings would create an awkward situation around the house, to say the least.

Tony entered the store and Angela was startled; she'd run out of time. This was it, now or never. After Tony's short visit she hurried the jeweler to engrave: "It's time I said 'I love you'" on the watch. He complied as quickly as possible; if only to restore some peace to his store.

Home at last, Angela continued to fret about her present for Tony. She hid in her den and wrapped the watch, all the time worrying that it was too much and she shouldn't be so blatant. Even after she completed the wrapping, her misgivings about the possibilities of the evening continued to hound her. Finally, telling herself that she had weathered worse crises than this, she found the courage to leave her home office. She picked up her purse and the watch and headed to the living room, hopefully to see Tony; and no one else.

Unfortunately, it was not Tony who greeted her in the living room, it was her mother. Not being in much of a mood to humor the aura of presumptuous romance currently surrounding her mother, Angela's only choice was sarcasm, "Mother, I'm surprised to see you; no clambake tonight?"

"No dear, although I could make one up if you want to be alone with Tony."

This hadn't started well, "no," Angela said far too quickly.

Mona wanted to call her daughter on that lie; but the box she was carrying was far more intriguing, she aimed for that target instead, "what did you get Tony for your anniversary?" she asked, clearly wanting any and all details.

"Just...something."

"Something? Care to be a little more specific?"

"Not really."

Mona realized that this was going to take a little more maternal deviousness; Angela was grasping that box as though her life depended on it. "If you tell me, I'll tell you what Tony got you," she teased.

It worked, Mona could see Angela was intrigued. "I got him a watch," she answered warily, still clutching the box.

There had to be more to it than that, Mona thought, she wouldn't be that cagey about a watch, "may I see it?"

"Sorry, it's wrapped; you'll have to wait until I give it to Tony," Angela said, "if I ever manage to give it to Tony," she silently added.

"Very well, Angela; if you insist."

"I do."

"Fine," but it wasn't. Mona wanted to see the contents of that box more than she wanted a date for tonight. She wondered how Angela's reflexes were; if she made a grab for the gift, would Angela be able to escape before she nabbed it? It was a plan worth considering, Angela wasn't expecting any sort of attack from her own mother.

"Are you going to hold up your end of the bargain?" Angela prompted, a little annoyed.

"Hmm? What?" Mona's thoughts were still focused on the mysterious watch.

"What did Tony get me?"

"Oh that...I heard him say it was something you put on that's soft against your skin."

Angela was hooked, her thoughts scattered as she tried to unravel the mystery of Tony's gift to her. Try as she might though, she couldn't figure out the answer.

Mona was gratified to see her daughter so unnerved, she decided to have a little fun, "maybe it's lingerie, dear."

Angela was shocked, "No! Tony wouldn't...it's so personal," but then she changed her mind, "do you think it's possible?" The thought was tantalizing, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Sure dear; first he buys you lingerie, then he wants you to try it on and then he wants to take it off."

"Mother!"

"Sorry, I forgot, that's my life."

Angela shook her head, if her mother was correct, and if Angela bothered to examine her feelings closely, she would see that she hoped her mother was; then her inscription on the watch wasn't too explicit. Angela sat on the couch, nervously tapping the box on her knee. Mona watched like a lioness stalking her prey; poor wounded antelope Angela, Mona pounced, snatching the box out of Angela's grasp faster than Angela could react.

Mona escaped from the couch and headed to the front door.

Angela rose from the couch and demanded, "Mother, you give that back right now or I'll..."

"You'll what, dear?"

"I'll cut off your charge account at Bloomingdale's!"

That was indeed quite a threat, but Mona wasn't going to be intimidated. "Was is it about the watch you're trying to hide, Angela?"

"Nothing," Angela answered, hoping she was being casual enough so that her mother wouldn't see her formulating the plan to grab the watch back. She wasn't, her mother could see her overly studied nonchalance; in defense, Mona put the watch behind her back. Angela was only further infuriated by the tactic.

"If it's nothing then why won't you let me see it?"

"It's Tony's present, he should see it first."

"Don't be absurd; it's your duty as my daughter and as a woman to let me see it first."

"What? That doesn't even make sense."

"It doesn't have to make sense, I just have to see it."

"No, you don't." And with that Angela made a move to recover the watch from her mother; she lunged forward, throwing her arms around her mother; Mona tried to escape, but Angela got a hand on the box and wouldn't let go.

From across the room they heard, "hello, ladies." Tony had entered the living room carrying a big box, which he placed on the coffee table. A box too big for lingerie, Angela noted, somewhat disappointed. Unless it was a lot of lingerie, but she really didn't think Tony was going to go that route. At least, not yet; someday, she hoped. There was that 'someday' again. Not 'someday' anymore: today, she had to keep reminding herself, there would be no more 'someday'.

Mona gave up the struggle and released the watch to Angela. Angela pulled away from her, holding the box and giving her a triumphant glare. Mona smirked in return.

"Hello, Tony, happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary to you too, Angela. And to you too, Mona."

"Don't bother with me, it's not my anniversary, remember I met you the day before. You should have given me a present yesterday."

"Mother; today is the anniversary, stop arguing semantics."

"Fine, give Tony his present." Mona pushed Angela towards Tony.

"I will if you stop being such a nag about it."

"Me? A nag?" Mona asked overly innocently.

Angela could have rolled her eyes, but just let her mother's sarcasm go with an,"at the moment, yes."

"Ladies, could we save the arguing for later; trust me, there will be plenty of time."

"Sorry, Tony," she turned and glared at her mother who just shrugged.

Tony gave Mona a 'will you behave?' look as well, then turned his attention to Angela, "c'mon Angela, open your present," he said.

Angela was thrilled by the anticipation of an anniversary gift, she put the watch down on the coffee table, as far away from her mother as she could place it. Her expectations high, she then lifted the lid off the box to find...seat covers. Not at all what she had anticipated. Covering her disappointment, Angela remarked on how soft they were. It seemed to have worked because Tony looked very pleased with his gift, pointing out to her the advantages of the seat covers and reminding her of how much she admired his own. Angela silently cursed herself for ever mentioning the seat covers. Her hopes dashed, she thanked Tony; but inwardly was reeling. How could she give him that watch now? She couldn't.

Mona was scrutinizing her daughter for every tiny clue she could glean from her manner of being. That she was disappointed with the seat covers was obvious to her; if not to Tony. This reaction only made her more interested in just what was so special about the watch still in its box. There had to be something, and she was going to find out what it was. "Give Tony his present," she prodded.

Angela frantically grabbed the box and put it behind her back, "no!" she said emphatically, then started babbling, "you see it comes with an attachment and the attachment didn't come."

Mona was fascinated. Angela had been ready to give Tony this watch; but the seat covers had completely smothered her enthusiasm for the gift. She was going to find out why, even if it did cost her the Bloomingdale's charge account.

"I don't care," Tony answered.

"He doesn't care," Mona pushed.

"I care, I just want it to be perfect, ok?"

"Ok. You sure?" Tony asked.

"I'm sure," desperate to change the subject, Angela asked, "so, where are we going tonight?"

Tony, feeling he was on a roll, cheerfully teased, "oh, someplace very special to us."

Angela, visions of a quiet evening for two suddenly back in her head, felt her heart skip a beat; maybe this evening would work out after all.

Then Tony announced they were going to the carnival, and she was right back where she started. Giving the idea a few moments thought, she decided it might not be so bad after all, maybe they could slip away to the Ferris wheel or someplace even more secluded. All hope was not lost.

Mona was still watching Angela like a hawk; in between feigning surprise, that is.

The kids arrived and everyone rushed out to the car, leaving Angela alone. Suddenly very depressed at the lack of a romantic evening, and barely clinging to the faintest glimmer that she might still yet salvage the evening, she touched the watch box to her lips in a gesture crushed dreams. Then she tucked the gift into her purse, trying to ignore the metaphor of her once again putting her feelings away into a dark and lonely place, and joined the rest of the family in the car.

At the fair, Angela grew more and more dissatisfied. Tony barely paid any attention to her at all; he seemed more interested in keeping Sam's new (or was that old?) boyfriend in line. She couldn't even take any joy from him winning a stuffed animal for her since he'd already won one for the rest of the party, and she was almost an afterthought to him. Her mood was spiraling from romantic to subdued to sullen faster than Tony could knock down milk bottles with a baseball. Although she loved her family, she wanted to spend the anniversary alone with Tony. She was tired of their routine; tired of waiting, tired of not knowing if they were ever to have a more intimate relationship. Hadn't she been patient long enough?

Then Mrs. Rossini showed up; of course. Someday she'd have to thank her mother for throwing herself on the grenade, dragging Mrs. Rossini and the kids away so she and Tony could be alone. It was obvious to Angela that her mother fervently wanted her to be alone with Tony tonight; unfortunately to Angela's mind, it didn't seem like Tony wanted to be alone with her. They wandered the midway, Tony wary; Angela was being very quiet tonight and he wasn't sure why.

"So, what do you want to do? Get something to eat? Ride rides?" he asked, trying for any response whatsoever.

"Whatever you want to do is fine."

"Angela, come on, that's not like you."

He was right. Angela had to pull herself out of this mood; here she was on the midway with her favorite guy, she even had the requisite stuffed animal, she should be happy; but she wasn't. She could see she was making him miserable as well. She looked around and smiled, barely a smile, but it was better than nothing, "how about the Ferris wheel?" she suggested. The second after she said it she regretted it, putting herself on one of the tallest rides at the fair probably wasn't the wisest choice she had ever made; but with Tony with her, she could handle the height, couldn't she? She steeled herself and smiled a tight smile.

That was more like it. Tony agreed and they headed toward the ride. Angela never realized before just how small the seats on a Ferris wheel were. So here there were, both where they wanted to be and yet neither could find the words. Tony was still trying to figure out why Angela was so distant tonight; he thought back, trying to understand why she was barely speaking to him. He couldn't think of anything she would be mad at him for. He really thought the street fair was a good anniversary idea and was disappointed that she didn't seem to be having a good time.

Angela kept trying to come up with a conversation starter; any conversation starter. She clutched her purse, inwardly struggling with it. She wasn't going to have a better opportunity than this; they were alone. All she had to do was pull the watch out of her purse and give it to him. Simple. Then why was her hand was making no move to retrieve the watch? Fear; fear so cliché she should just ignore it; but one thought gripped her mind: If he rejected the sentiment on the watch she'd have no where to run to; they were committed to the end of the ride. It could be uncomfortable to say the least if they were stuck there going around in circles trying to ignore each other. But, Angela reflected, hadn't they been going around in circles for years?

"So..." Tony said, startling Angela.

"So..." Angela answered, tapping on her purse.

"Nice night out," Tony grasped at any straw of a subject, but even he had to admit to himself that discussing the weather was trite.

"Yes," Angela said far too quickly; which left them at another silent impasse. They may have been silent, but the midway was a million sounds combining to create enough noise to drown out their silence. Unfortunately for Angela, the melody of a song she hadn't thought about in years was blaring its way through the loudspeakers; its insistent beat hounding her:

Tell him that you're never gonna leave him

Tell him that you're always gonna love him

Tell him

Tell him

Tell him

Tell him right now.

Angela clutched her purse even more tightly. Tony noticed this and wondered if she was all right, he hoped she wasn't becoming queasy. No, she wasn't feeling sick, at least not in a physical sense; but her head was spinning. Her thoughts were frantic, was the song a sign? Could anything be more blatant? It was silly really, just because this one particular song happened to be playing at this particular moment, when she and Tony were in what could be construed as a romantic setting and she had a watch for him in her purse; it didn't mean anything, did it? Angela was overwhelmed.

For his part, Tony hadn't noticed the song at all, he was more concerned about Angela to pay attention to any stray noise from the midway, "Angela, are you ok?" he asked, worried.

She smiled too brightly, "fine," desperate for any conversation other than the one they needed to have the most she said, "it was nice to see Mrs. Rossini again." There, that was better; she'd banished the song. After all, it was just a song. Wasn't it?

Tony agreed, "I'm surprised Mona volunteered to spend time with her. Do you think she's feeling all right?"

Angela laughed a very small laugh, "it's Mother, maybe the cotton candy has gone to her head."

Tony smiled.

And they were both silent again. The wheel stopped to allow more passengers to board. Angela glanced over the midway, the lights of the other rides combined with the multicolored streamers of lights strung across the midway to create a Christmas like effect. It was very pretty and Angela was lost in thoughts of the holidays and how happy the season had been for her since Tony had become part of her life.

"Are you cold?"

Had Tony somehow read her mind? How could he have known she was thinking about December? Of course he hadn't known her thoughts, he was just grasping at another straw.

"No," Angela answered, absently, then chastised herself for giving the wrong response. That was her best chance to have Tony put his arm around her and she'd ruined it. Now what was she going to do? She sighed, angry at herself, her courage was gone, her wishes for tonight evaporated with it.

Tony was at a loss, when Angela had suggested the Ferris wheel he thought it might be because she saw an opportunity for togetherness. Her rejection left him puzzled. Did she want a closer relationship or not? He had no idea. Perplexed by her behavior, he decided to give up for the night. It was almost midnight now, the fair would be closing soon, and try as he might he wasn't any closer to understanding the current enigma that was Angela.

The wheel started to turn again; most of the couples it carried were happily cuddled up together, but Tony and Angela were too lost in their own insecurities to bridge the very small gap that currently separated them. Their ride soon came to an end. They met up with the rest of the family and returned home.

Sam left for the dorm as quickly as she could; but not before exchanging looks with Jonathan and Mona, as much as they didn't want to admit it, they could see another meeting of their Club would be required. Jonathan also sent himself to bed quickly, hoping that by leaving Tony and his mom alone they might actually make some progress. He knew it was a long shot since they hadn't been able to make any progress so far tonight, but he reasoned that the more opportunity they had, the better. Mona left in disgust, but hid it well.

Tony and Angela locked up and headed to the upstairs landing.

"Good night, Angela, happy anniversary," Tony attempted one last chance for a conversation with Angela.

"Good night, Tony, happy anniversary." with that she slipped into her room, shutting out Tony and the rest of the world.

Angela slumped against the door of her room, she looked around and sighed. The room was dark and empty; here she was sleeping alone; again. She was angry; angry at Tony for messing up plans he didn't even know she had, angry with her mother because she was so obviously trying to get them together tonight; but when she examined her feelings a little more she admitted that she was only angry with herself for once again letting the opportunity slip by.

Angela pulled her purse off and sat down on the side of her bed. She pulled the watch box out of her purse, ripped off the wrapping paper and opened it. The watch mocked her in its cold serenity; there it was precisely ticking away the seconds while she was in turmoil. She snapped the lid shut and cried.

Tony watched the door close and wondered what was going through Angela's mind. He retreated to his own room where he thought about the state of their relationship. Did they have a future together? Did he even want a future with Angela? The second question shocked him; he'd always considered it a given, someday. But didn't their continual mutual silence on the subject speak volumes? He sat down on the side of the bed, suddenly very troubled about his future. Where would he go after he graduated? He'd have no concrete reason to be here anymore, other than Jonathan, but phone calls would be sufficient for any advice Jonathan would need at this point in his life. So why would he stay?

Now greatly disturbed, he took a long look at his past with Angela. Was there ever a moment when she'd intimated she cared about him as more than a friend? The answer was an obvious, yes. Did he still care about her? Of course he did, how could he even question this? Now he was left with one more question: what to do? Normally he and Angela were in sync, but tonight she seemed as remote as the moon. What responsibility did he have in that and how would he go about correcting it? He didn't like the distance between them tonight; even on the Ferris wheel they might as well have been on different sides of the Atlantic.

Dare he actually say the words? Words they had so studiously avoided, ignored and shoved into the darkest regions of their souls whenever they tried to surface? Maybe it was time. It was a terrifying thought; but maybe they had reached a point where not being together was more terrifying. Tony was exhausted, but the decision was made: it was time. Feeling a more relieved than anything else he changed for bed and was asleep two seconds after his head hit the pillow.

Angela dried her tears, this was getting her nowhere. She had to look at the situation calmly and rationally. Tonight didn't work so she had to formulate another plan; one she couldn't back out of. But what? Angela pulled herself together enough to walk over to her dressing table and sit down.

They'd grown so used to the status quo of their relationship that Angela wasn't sure if they would even be able to adjust at this point. Was it even possible for them to be more to each other? Or had they lost their opportunity through neglect and denial? She loved him, she knew that; but did he love her? Had he ever loved her? She thought back over the years trying to find any shred of evidence that she could claim as proof of his love. So many examples presented themselves in her mind, but she dismissed them all as proof of friendship only. He'd never actually said, "I love you," at least not without the help of very good medication.

Angela's thoughts stopped. It was so obvious she was stunned she hadn't considered it before: their second anniversary. If Tony could use a page from their past, why couldn't she?

Had it really been five years since that very important night? That night which started the unspoken: 'There's Something There But The Risk Is Too Great To Discuss It, So We'll Just Ignore It, Even Though The Truth Is Obvious To Everyone' policy. She wondered where the time had flown to. They'd had five years of a great friendship that afforded her some of the most wonderful moments of her life, yet also interspersed with some of the most painful experiences of her life. Overall it was the most profound relationship she had ever been in, Tony was the one person she could count on more than anyone, more than even her own mother. She needed him, she wanted him, she treasured him in a way that she had never cared for anyone before.

The more she thought about it the more she realized how significant that night was. There was a part of her that had always been sorry they never had their chat by the fireplace, but this was countered by the knowledge that what they did establish that night might have been even better. Something had been acknowledged, even if they wouldn't act on the feelings, from that night forward Angela had those words to cling to whenever she felt lonely.

Still, there was that sense of unfinished business. What might have happened had they actually had that chat? Would they have come to an understanding then? Or would they have once again backed away from declaring their true feelings for each other when confronted? It was a question she had turned over in her mind from time to time in the ensuing years, never once coming to a satisfactory conclusion.

Now was the time, they'd been through enough and it was time for her to stop denying the truth. There would be no more unspoken feelings, no more sublimated desire, just the two of them picking up where they left off five years ago. She'd surprise him with dinner tomorrow night, hoping that this time no one would wind up in the hospital.


	6. The Anniversary of The Anniversary

Mona was seated at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee, ruing the fact that there was coffee made in the first place. Tony was downstairs already; which meant there had been no night of confessed love, no advance in his relationship with her daughter, no passion; nothing. She, Mrs. Rossini and the kids had left them alone at the carnival and they had nothing to show for their efforts. She wanted answers; details about last night; and she wanted them now. Mona was close to going upstairs, her patience was gone and she was going to get answers from her daughter even if she had to pry them out with a crowbar.

Angela was spared the bulk of her mother's ire by entering the kitchen, "morning Mother," she said as she made her way to the coffee.

"Don't 'morning Mother' me, what happened last night?"

Angela finished pouring her coffee, then turned to her mother and leaned against the counter, "what do you mean?" she said, then took a sip, the coffee was ambrosia to her this morning after such an emotional roller coaster of a night.

Frustrated, Mona dropped her head to her hand, then she composed herself and fixed Angela with a glare that could melt the arctic icecap, "You. Tony. The carnival. The watch. What happened? Don't be cute."

Angela winced at the mention of the watch, hoping her mother hadn't noticed. She had. Angela couldn't show weakness, there was no way her mother could know anything was inscribed on the watch; she was just being her usual pushy self.

"I'm not trying to be cute, mother," Angela said in self-defense.

"Angela, you had a perfect chance last night. Do you think I sent the kids away for nothing? I even spent time with Mrs. Rossini for you."

"I know, mother, thank you."

"What are you waiting for?"

"I don't know, the time just wasn't...right."

"Do you have any idea when the time might be...right?"

"Don't be snide, this isn't easy." This actually managed to silence Mona; Angela realized she had a chance to deflect her mother from offering any more 'help', "maybe it won't work for us," she offered.

Mona wasn't buying that for a second, "Angela, I'm experiencing deja vu; you said the same thing at the sock hop and the morning after Tony's operation..."

"So much for deflection," Angela thought.

"Since that morning you have had five more years together," Angela started to protest but Mona wouldn't let her, "you've weathered some harsh storms and still remained staunch in your friendship. When are you going to stop denying the obvious?"

"Why are you so adamant about this today?" Angela was exasperated, she had the situation under control; she hoped, and she didn't want or need any help from her mother.

"I'm tired of it, Angela. Tired of watching you two put so much effort into denial. If you put as much effort into your relationship as you did to denying it, you'd be blissfully happy for the rest of your lives. I don't want you to live in regret, Angela. Time could be running out, do something about it." With that, Mona stormed out of the kitchen, back to the sanity of her apartment. She called Sam to update her on the lack of an update and tried to come up with two plans. The first to get the two most stubborn people on the planet together; the second, to find out what Angela was hiding about that watch.

Now that her mother had left her alone, Angela put down the coffee cup and called the caterer.

Tony returned home after a long day of research at the library. He opened the front door to find a surprising scene. Instead of coming home to an empty house, he saw the little round table set for a candlelight dinner for two. This was definitely not what he had expected; also not in his expectations was the bottle of champagne chilling next to the table. It took him a moment or two to really register the scene; when he did, he noticed the present Angela had so desperately tried to keep away from him last night was placed on the dinner table as well. He looked questioningly at Angela, standing next to the table, she looked beautiful, but anxious.

His confused state of mind was further astonished by Angela's choice of dress: short, black and off the shoulder; it knocked any expectations he might have had concerning her wardrobe out of the park, assuming he had been able to form any expectations on the subject at all.

"Hi," Angela said somewhat nervously.

"Hi," Tony answered, still a little perplexed by the setting in front of him, "are you expecting company?" If she was she hadn't shared that little detail with him.

"No, just you," then she started stumbling over the words, "I mean not _just_ you, you're not just a 'just'…I mean you're you…Tony…"

"What's the occasion?" he interrupted in order to put her out of her misery, but still not moving from his spot near the door.

Only a little relieved, Angela clasped her hands together for support, "I thought we could have a nice anniversary dinner."

"Angela, the anniversary was yesterday, we went to the fair, remember?"

Now Angela was starting to lose hope, this was her last ditch effort, if this didn't work she was going to chalk up the past seven years as a lot of fun, but just not meant to be for the two of them. "I know," she started, "but there wasn't much opportunity for fine dining there."

He couldn't argue that point.

"And you don't have to worry," Angela continued, "I had the meal catered."

Tony couldn't help a small smile, he looked in to her eyes and saw a mixture of emotions, everything from hope to fear was radiating from her being. He set his books down on the side table, "if I had known you were planning this, I would have dressed better for the library."

She managed a little smile of her own, "you like fine," she said. "As always," her mind impishly added.

"Thank you, but if you don't mind, I'll change into something more appropriate."

She shrugged, "suit yourself." She was starting to regret this whole idea, it sounded so right when she thought of it, but now it just seemed silly. Here she was trying to recreate a night that hadn't ended well for them the first time they tried it, what was she hoping to accomplish by bringing that evening up again? Well, she knew what she was trying to accomplish, it just suddenly occurred to her that this could be a very bad idea.

Tony ran upstairs to change as quickly as he could, he wasn't sure what prompted Angela to arrange this cozy tryst, but he wasn't going to let the opportunity slip by. The shock of seeing Angela in such an unexpected romantic setting had worn off and he was starting to see that maybe he hadn't been misinterpreting the hints she'd been dropping recently. Maybe, just maybe, tonight they would finally drop the pretense. It was a sobering thought, but he was bolstered by her choice to create an anniversary of an anniversary, it showed him that she might wish to confront something they'd ignored for so very long. As he practically flew back downstairs he concluded that if he could take a page from their past, why couldn't she? He only hoped he wouldn't wind up in the emergency room again.

Angela had been trying to calm her nerves by pacing. It wasn't working. Part of her couldn't wait for him to come back downstairs and part of her wanted him to forget the whole thing and stay upstairs for the rest of the night. She wasn't to be granted the easy way out, however, as she heard Tony's footsteps on the stairs sealing her fate one way or the other tonight. Her heart was racing as she tried to tell herself that this was just another dinner at home with Tony, they'd been through plenty of those. She could always choose to keep dinner platonic. After all, Tony didn't know what had been on her mind when she set this dinner up; and if she felt her courage wavering, she could keep it that way.

Angela was struck as a memory suddenly hit her; her mother calling her a chicken. Of course, she should have expected that. In referencing that night; all of the events of the evening would come rushing back. Angela steeled herself, she wasn't a chicken, she'd never been a chicken where Tony was concerned; they just had other priorities in their lives up to this point and had to put their relationship on hold. At least that's what she always told herself.

Tony reached the bottom of the stairs, she smiled at him. He looked good, of course he looked good, it just hadn't occurred to her that it would affect her so much more than usual tonight. They caught each other's eyes for a second or two, both searching to the 'are you sure you want to do this' question. Neither said a word or backed down.

So here it was, time to confront the fear that had suffocated any attempts of a relationship up to this point: would the reality live up to their fantasies? Or would finally stating the truth somehow diminish the emotion? They were concerns that crossed both their minds although neither would admit it. What if they tried and found that being in love wasn't as romantic as they had imagined it to be all these years? What if the height of their romance was the tension of 'what might be'-the tantalizing thought that maybe someday there might be more? What if their friendship couldn't survive a failed romance? How do they even go about transitioning from friends to lovers? Lovers. There was no word in the English language more fraught with unrealistic expectations than that one. Angela had always depended on Tony so much for everything, could she depend on him for love as well? And could she open her heart to him; really open her heart to him, let go of the vise grip she'd used to keep it safe from shattering during the past few years?

Now was the time to find out.

Angela then quickly turned to the table hoping to find some strength from what she didn't know. Tony admired her in the candles' glow and felt nothing but love, pure and simple. Here they were, the two of them, in a moment of domestic bliss. A quiet dinner awaited and he hoped to repeat this evening many times in the future for the rest of their lives.

"So…champagne?" Angela asked in sheer desperation, she knew she could certainly use a drink. Angela moved toward the bottle, but Tony cut her off and pulled a chair out for her instead. Gratefully, she sat down, relieved to be in the stability of the chair.

Tony then momentarily turned his attention to the patiently waiting champagne, the bottle opened with its customary effervescent pop and Angela shivered in anticipation. She had always considered that moment as one of her most favorite sounds. It was always magical to her, but tonight it was ethereal. There was so much promise for joy, laughter and love when champagne was opened, and she hoped tonight would be a night they would be able to revel in all three of those qualities.

Tony poured the champagne, thus creating another of Angela's favorite sounds, that of the fizz of the champagne as it filled the glass. She sighed in delightful satisfaction. Tony was amused by her reaction, he handed her the glass and Angela somehow managed to not drop it even though she was far from steady.

"Careful, don't want to spill and waste any of it," he said as he poured his own glass and sat down across from her. "So, what should we drink to?"

Now Angela was at a loss, she took a couple of moments, but inspiration did not strike, giving up, she laughed, "I have no idea."

Tony laughed in response, "how about 'happy day after the anniversary'?"

Angela smiled, for one could never celebrate an anniversary too much, "happy day after the anniversary," she echoed as they touched glasses, thereby creating yet another of Angela's favorite sounds, the delightful music of crystal meeting crystal. They each sipped, smiled and returned the glasses to the table.

Tony glanced to the side of the table, "do I get to open my present now?"

"Yes."

Tony reached for the gift.

"No," Angela panicked and reached out for the box as well.

Tony looked at her, his hand still on the re-wrapped watch box, "Angela, what's the real reason you don't want me to open this? Obviously, it has nothing to do with any part that didn't come, so what is it?"

"Nothing."

"You want to try that again?"

Angela's fear was overcoming her again. Tony saw it in her eyes and decided to take a step back, he took his hand off the present, "it's ok, Angela, believe it or not, I can be patient."

Relieved, but also disappointed in herself, Angela took her hand off the box as well.

They were both uncomfortable, it was too quiet. Pretending they were fascinated by their food wasn't working. Angela was once again rethinking this whole evening. There was a fine line between being assertive and making a fool of oneself and she wasn't sure which side of that line she was on right now. Worse, she didn't know how to land on the assertive side instead of the fool side. Why was this so difficult? She didn't have any trouble being assertive in her career, why was it so hard here with the person who always accepted her and was her strength when she needed it the most?

"Angela, if this is what you wanted as a celebration last night, why didn't you say so?" Tony attempted a shred of conversation.

"I don't know, you seemed so excited by the fair idea. Later I realized how unreasonable I was being, you couldn't have known I was hoping for something quieter." Although not as quiet as it had been for the past couple of minutes. "I apologize for last night, I wasn't much fun to be around and I ruined what could have been a fun night if I had let myself enjoy it."

Tony wasn't sure how to respond, this was one of those 'tightrope' moments. If he agreed with Angela, she might be upset, but he couldn't not say anything either, so he went with a non-committal, "ruined is a bit harsh, Angela. Last night was last night, let's not talk about it anymore." Which just left them at another impasse.

Angela could hear the clock ticking, they wouldn't have the house alone for very long, she had to do something or she would wind up spending another night being angry with herself. In a sudden move, she pushed the watch over to the other side of the table, "Tony, open the present." Surprised by the desperation in Angela's voice, Tony ripped the paper off the box before she could change her mind again.

The gleaming metal of the watch contrasted sharply with the darkness of the room. Tony stared at the watch, it was classic, sleek, elegant. What he couldn't understand was why Angela had been so hesitant about giving him the watch.

"It's beautiful, Angela, thank you," he said, pulling the watch out of the box.

Now Angela was terrified, there was no other word for it. She stood up from the table, clutching her hands, "there's an inscription on the back," she somehow managed to say, although barely more than a whisper.

"Oh yeah?" Tony was intrigued, he flipped the watch over and was shocked by the words.

Angela looked at him, trying to guess his thoughts by his reaction, but she wasn't able to draw any conclusions.

There was silence.

Again.

"Tony, say something...anything," she said in desperation, her heart starting to break.

But Tony didn't say anything, instead he set the watch on the table, pushed his chair back, stood up and pulled Angela into his arms and held her tightly.

"I love you too, Angela, you know that."

"I do?"

"'course, why do you think I hang around here so much?"

Angela laughed and snuggled even closer to Tony than she already was, just being in his arms gave her chills. They stood there for quite some time, both silently marveling at the fact that the words had been said and that the world had kept on spinning. The phone didn't ring, no one came rushing through the front door, no bolt of lightning hit the house from out of the blue. A simple statement of fact had been spoken, and even though this turned their world upside down, the rest of the world went about its business blithely unaware that such a seismic shift had occurred.

There was a precious silence in which two hearts finally touched and the barriers that had long separated these hearts disappeared, never to intrude on their lives again. Angela couldn't believe it, she really felt as though she was floating on air, she'd always thought that to be a cliché, she had no idea the sensation was real. Tony felt all the doubt of the past few years fall away. There had been so many times he thought they'd never reach this point, now it looked as though their journey together was finally one in which they would actually be together instead of just on a journey.

They continued to hold each other, each amazed that in the end it wasn't a crisis or even a discussion that brought them together, it was just a simple acknowledgment of the truth; one that they were both finally ready and willing to make.

"I love you, Tony," Angela tried the words out, still in awe that she was finally allowed to say them. Smiling, she pulled away from Tony just enough to smile up at him. He smiled back, then he kissed her.

This was definitely their best anniversary ever.

So far.

When he was finally able to tear himself away from her kiss, he scraped together enough coherence to ask, "why now?"

This was a valid question and he deserved an answer; it was the question that had permeated Angela's mind for the past couple of months, occupying her and persistently dogging her until she could ignore it no longer. So why was she having such a difficult time formulating a response? It wasn't as if she hadn't thought about what her answer would be if he asked this question, it's just that none of those answers seemed to be weighty enough for the occasion. But weighty or not, there was a simple truth that it was time to share with him, she took a step back and a deep breath, "I started wondering what we were waiting for. I know we used to have reasons; or as Mother would put it, 'excuses' for staying apart, but they don't seem to carry as much weight as they used to."

He nodded in assent to her characterization of her Mother and her classifying their continual separation as an excuse. Mona never agreed with their policy of abstention and took every opportunity she could to push them together. "Have our reasons dissolved, Angela?"

"I think so. We've sacrificed any possibility of an 'us' for years, we've put the kids as a priority, and I still feel that was the best decision."

Tony nodded in agreement.

"But at this point, no matter what happens between us, neither of us will lose Jonathan or Samantha. She's precious to me and for the longest time I couldn't bear the thought of losing her if I ever lost you. Now that she's grown up we have formed our own relationship that will survive regardless of any…," she didn't want to finish that thought, she looked to the ground and he helped her along by touching her hand. This brought her attention back up to him, they looked at each other intently, he nodded and she knew he felt the same way about Jonathan.

"I'm tired of waiting Tony. We've waited for so long. I was starting to be afraid I'd wake up alone seven years from now still waiting for the day we would be together. Then I realized that I had an even greater fear, what if we never gave us a chance? That terrified me. Even if it didn't work out, at least we could say we tried."

"Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?"

"Something like that, yes; but Tony, there's an even greater fear than that…what if we work out even better than either of us could imagine? Then we will have wasted seven years. Seven years in which we could have been blissfully happy. That's a long time, Tony. I'd be so angry with myself over the lost time."

He closed his hand completely around hers, "Angela, you have to remind yourself of the reasons. We've had our chances before, we've always made the mutual choice to maintain the friendship. You can't question those choices now, or ever, by playing Monday morning quarterback." Not the most romantic choice of words, but apt. He squeezed her hand and continued, "we've spent seven years in a strong, honest relationship, it's probably better than most marriages just as it is. We've both been hesitant to let go; but letting go is the only way to try something new."

He wasn't saying anything she didn't already know, what did surprise her was that he was bound by the same fears she was. She took a couple of steps away from him, fear momentarily taking hold of her again.

"So here we are at the crossroads again, Angela. Which way should it be? Do we stay with the safe choice or do we explore the potential that has always been there?"

She looked at him and what she saw in his eyes took away her fear. She saw love. Love that had been suppressed for too long, love that had been hers for the taking had she ever been brave enough to seize the chance before. She hoped he saw the same look in her eyes; as it was she smiled a tremulous smile and held out her hand to him. He stepped toward her and held his hand out to hers. Their fingers touched, then closed around each other. Never losing eye contact, they each moved closer to the other, for what they saw in each other's eyes gave them both the strength to proceed without caution.

"I wouldn't have bothered with dinner if I was interested in maintaining the status quo."

He grinned, "good, because I'm not interested in maintaining the status quo either."

Remembering that their time alone was limited, Angela regretfully turned away from Tony and motioned to the table, suddenly wondering why she'd even bothered with dinner. What had she been thinking? She should have known that if they ever pursued this relationship the last thoughts in either of their minds would be about food. But, there was dinner, on the table, just waiting to be finished.

So lost was she in the delightful miasma of emotion, that Tony's whispered, "penny for your thoughts, Angela," almost made her jump halfway to the moon.

She shook her head to bring herself back to reality, "I'm sorry," she answered, still not really able to regain her equilibrium, "I was thinking about dinner, well, I mean, not really dinner, I mean not having dinner...I don't know what I mean."

Tony smiled, she was quite enchanting when she was flustered, it was a facet of hers that he liked to think belonged solely to him. Successful businesswoman Angela Bower was in control, a diligent professional with all her 't's crossed and 'i's dotted; intimate Angela let him see the vulnerability and tenderness she carried as well. He loved all the intricacies of her personality, but he had to admit, the ones he loved best were the ones most people did not even suspect, let alone be fortunate enough to see and revel in.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Angela, I am hungry; and anticipation is part of the fun."

"Tony, we have the 'anticipating' down pat, we've been 'anticipating' for years. No one in the history of mankind has 'anticipated' the way we have."

He laughed and pulled her into his arms. Oh, that wasn't going to make the decision to actually have dinner any easier. Holding each other made them both pause. Certainly they'd hugged before, but it had never felt like this. She pulled away, trying to catch her breath. Tony noted this and the blush in her cheeks, he'd never seen her quite like this before and he felt intoxicated even though he had only had one sip of champagne.

He walked over and pulled out a chair for her, she looked at him gratefully and sank into the chair still trying to control herself, which was a losing battle. They stayed at the table, basking in the glow of this new relationship, not speaking, but never losing eye contact either. Now all they had to do was figure out how to proceed, they weren't in a hurry to divine an answer to that dilemma, they hadn't hurried for the past seven years, why start now?

He looked at her, trying to find the correct words for a proper toast to this occasion, but her eyes were unfocused, he wondered how he'd lost her attention. If Tony had known Angela's thoughts right then he would not have needed to worry, for her thoughts were completely centered on him. In fact, if Tony had known Angela's thoughts at that moment his appetite for food would have disappeared instantaneously, for Angela was lost in the fantasy of bypassing the glass completely and just pouring the champagne onto Tony directly and licking it off him. It was indeed a pity that Tony couldn't read Angela's mind because dinner would have been left on the table in their zeal to grab the champagne bottle as they hastened upstairs.

As it was Tony cleared his throat in an attempt to draw Angela's attention away from…him.

Angela reacted, "hmm?" then remembered that now was not the time to fantasize about Tony, she'd wasted enough time on that in previous years, and if she didn't pay attention to him now then there was no way that particular fantasy was ever going to come true, and she desperately wanted it to come true. "Sorry, Tony, I was thinking about the many uses for champagne," she said somehow managing to make the words sound completely innocent.

Champagne had uses? Tony was confused, but decided against pursuing her comment. In his mind there was only one use for champagne, to drink, which he planned to do right now. If only he had known what Angela's 'other uses' were; well there was no use thinking about that now, he'd find out someday, highly possibly even tonight if Angela had anything to say about it, and she did.

Still at a loss for some words, any words to mark this occasion, Tony hesitated in another toast to them. How could seven years of love, laughter, joy, hurt, consolation and friendship be summed up in a few measly words? They couldn't. Angela, seeing his dilemma took the responsibility away from him, "Tony, five years ago we tried to define our relationship. We weren't able to then," he scoffed as he remembered just how unable they both were, "but I hope time has given us both a gift of clarity that we can use to mark this anniversary," she took a deep breath and let herself be vulnerable, "so, to the past seven years; and to the next seven, and the seven after that and the seven after that…"

Tony smiled and touched her glass with his, he joined Angela's toast, "and to the seven after that and the seven after that and the seven after that and the seven hundred after that. Happy anniversary."

Angela's face was a reflection of his own, each radiated love to the other; they were both lost in the joy of at long last being able to indulge in and celebrate their feelings instead of shutting them away in their hearts behind as many locked doors and barriers that they could possibly build. They had both been released and were grateful to each other for the opportunity to love and be loved. They each took a sip of champagne, Angela enjoyed the intoxicating aroma as the bubbles hit her lips, then the feeling of the bubbles dissipating on her tongue as the liquid slid down her throat leaving behind a delightful tingle in her mouth. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Then she took another sip.

Tony watched her savor the champagne and swallowed; hard. He'd seen her drink champagne before, many times in fact, but this time was completely different. He tried to not be affected, tried to come up with any other description in his mind, but there was no other word to describe the look on Angela's face, she was orgasmic. He recognized it because it was the same look that overtook her whenever she indulged in chocolate. Chocolate cake, brownies, fudge, candy; the variety didn't matter, they all produced the same effect. Of course he was always most pleased when the chocolate that evoked this reaction was anything he baked. Could be one reason he baked for her so often; just maybe. It was then that he realized dinner was going to be a very hurried event, and that maybe he wasn't as hungry as he thought he was.

Unfortunately he was hungry, and staring at Angela as she delighted in champagne wasn't going to satisfy that need. It might satisfy some other needs, no; it only intensified other needs, that's why he had to get her away from the champagne and on to dinner. After all, they both needed their strength; didn't they? Yes, yes they did.

"So, Angela," how about those Mets?" For the moment, Tony didn't care about the Mets; he knew for sure Angela didn't care about the Mets; it was just something, anything that would pull her out of her current reverie and back to their anniversary.

"Hmm, what?" Angela opened her eyes. "Tony, is baseball really something you want to talk about tonight? To say nothing of the fact that it isn't something I can discuss with you in any depth anyway."

"No, I don't want to talk baseball tonight," playing baseball was definitely on his mind, especially the fact that he could possibly hit a home run tonight that would be better than any he had ever hit in the majors, "I just needed you to stop being so alluring for the time being."

Angela hadn't realized she was being alluring and she rather liked being thought of in that sense. She put her champagne glass down and stroked its stem, an action not lost on Tony. He looked away and Angela felt a rush of gratification at being able to rattle him so; he was usually so unflappable, to see him even the slightest bit uncomfortable sent her confidence soaring.

"So, what _should_ we talk about?" Angela asked far too coquettishly for Tony's equilibrium.

"No idea," of course he had no idea, if anyone happened to ask him at this particular moment what his own name was he wouldn't have been able to answer coherently.

Angela decided to give them both a break and started eating. Tony was relieved and starting eating as well; and even though the food was good, he barely registered what he was eating, let alone taking the time to truly appreciate it. Angela noticed this and inwardly smiled.

They had to talk about something though. Tony searched what was left of his brain to try to come up with a topic, any topic; that would carry them through dinner without the potential for innuendo. Then the fog cleared a bit and he realized he didn't have to stay clear of suggestive conversation. It was a revelation that threw open a whole new world of possibilities for them. He grinned at the realization; Angela noticed and asked, "penny for _your_ thoughts."

His grin became even broader, "fine, Angela, although what I am thinking is worth more than a penny." She blushed and he felt on top of the world. He decided to cool things for the moment, "why the anniversary of the anniversary?"

"Well, Tony, I thought about a lot of options; but I kept coming back to this night as being very significant. I hadn't expected it to be when I planned it, I really thought it was going to be a whole family event. I was disappointed when the kids couldn't make it, and when Mother skipped out I was angry that she had pounced on an opportunity she had to have been waiting for even then…the chance to get us alone in the house."

"Yeah, she did make her expectations clear."

"Very, she's never bothered with subtlety where we are concerned. I was half surprised she didn't bother to turn down the bed sheets before she left."

Tony laughed at the truth of this statement, "speaking of Mona, you obviously didn't want her around tonight, so how did you keep her away?"

"I sent her to the _Ad__w__eek_ banquet, told her a pack of lies about a friend. Jonathan is at a football game."

"Angela, I am impressed, skipping a work related event to spend time with me. If your mother knew she'd jump for joy."

"I know; that's why she doesn't know." The both laughed, then Angela pressed on in her explanation, "we were supposed to have a talk that night, but we never had it."

He remembered this far too well, "true, but I always thought that what we did end up with out of that night outweighed anything we could have said."

"Did it?"

"Sure," he said slightly mocking their former relationship, "words were spoken and ignored by both of us, it set up the pattern for the next five years."

Angela couldn't disagree with that point, "but they were important words."

"Very."

"Tony, I've always wondered what that talk would have consisted of."

He shrugged, "quite honestly Angela, I had no idea what I was going to say even as I picked up the champagne bottle."

"You didn't?" This surprised her, she'd always believed he was in complete command of his thoughts and actions that night, at least until the medication took over.

"Nope."

Angela laughed, then composed herself, "looking back on it, do you think you could recreate what you might have said?"

He shrugged, "it's an irrelevant conversation now, Angela. We're two different people now, and our relationship, even before earlier this evening, isn't the relationship we had then. But if you are interested in a current talk then I say we take what's left of this bottle of champagne upstairs and discuss the new aspects to our relationship."

She tried to keep herself from a full out grin, but it didn't work and she giggled instead, "maybe we should." To emphasize her point she decided that two chairs at this table were superfluous. Removing herself from her own chair, she walked over to Tony and sat down in his lap. Yes, this was a much more comfortable chair, she twined her fingers around his hand, caressed his palm with a finger, leaned in to kiss his cheek and then whispered, "or we could just skip the talking and explore the new aspects instead."

Tony closed his eyes and swallowed, "yes, Angela, I think that would be a good alternative option as well," he tried to make sound as nonchalant as possible. Then he tightly folded his arms around her and kissed her.

Dinner was definitely over.

Unfortunately, there was the minor detail of the clean up. Angela didn't want her mother or Jonathan to come home to the slightest shred of evidence that anything had happened here tonight. Like it or not, and she most certainly did not, they were going to have to restore the living room to its normal condition. Finally tearing themselves away from each other they faced the harsh reality that their 'anticipating' was going to have to last a few minutes longer.

But Tony wasn't going to let her go, even for a few minutes, without a final quip, "as conversations go, that one was pretty good."

"But I am sure we can do better," she answered, then shook her head, a tease like that wasn't fair to either of them. "Sorry," she said as she extracted herself from his lap, leaving both of them a little bereft and a lot unsatisfied. They both knew the only way out was through, so they set the room to rights in record time. All the extra food was stored in the basement fridge, as no one but Tony ever looked in there. The anniversary watch was safely back in its box and secure in Tony's suit jacket pocket. When they were finished they surveyed the living room, making sure no remnants remained anywhere.

Finally sure that they had covered their tracks, Angela looked at Tony, "well, that about does it."

"Certainly does."

"Got any other ideas for the night?"

"Can't think of a thing."

"Nope, me either."

"You want to continue with the pointless banter?"

"Nope."

Tony needed no further prompting, he picked up the champagne. Angela grabbed the glasses, although she doubted she would even bother with one.

"So, Angela, your room or mine?"

She laughed wholeheartedly in response, then kissed him. At this point she didn't really care whose room they went to, she didn't even care if they made it to a room at all, the hallway would be just fine, thank you very much. Olympic timers would not have been able to discern which one of them ran up the stairs faster. When they finally reached the landing, they paused for a moment.

Tony walked over to his soon to be former room and pulled the door shut, "when Jonathan comes home he'll think we've gone to bed...I mean sleep, he'll think we've gone to sleep."

Angela blushed, and started to smile; but the smile turned to fear as she heard the front door open. "It's Jonathan!" she whispered, "hurry, before he comes upstairs."

But it wasn't Jonathan's voice that wafted upstairs, it was Mona's. Angela stepped back toward the top of the stairs, trying to hear who she was talking to. If she had picked someone up at the _Ad__w__eek_ dinner and left early, Angela didn't know what she would do, but it wouldn't be pleasant. Tony stood next to her. They heard Mona's every word. Angela was so angry with her mother, she wanted to run downstairs and have it out with her. Tony saw the anger in Angela's eyes and wisely put his arm around her waist, pulling her close, "let it go, Angela," he whispered in her ear.

The chills this sent through Angela completely tore her away from any thoughts about her mother, advertising, her own name, and any other coherent thought she may have had in her life. Angela turned her head to look at Tony, but wasn't capable of forming words. This was fine, as Tony saw everything he needed to see in Angela's eyes. They stood there silently until Mona left the house for her own apartment.

"Tony, I don't think I can walk."

Tony was gratified, "just lean on me, Angela."

"'k," she put her head on his shoulder, his arm was still around her waist, supporting her. Never had her bedroom door seemed so far away, but traverse the distance they did.

Finally.

*ahem* there may be those looking for a...continuation of this scene. It can be found in the M section, titled, "Anniversary Celebration".


	7. A Very Good Morning

Angela woke the next morning, still adrift in the afterglow. A stray thought drifted through her head, that sometimes vulnerability could be nice. It could be very, very nice, actually. She looked at Tony and smiled; a beaming smile that would have knocked his socks off had he been awake to see it. Or still wearing socks. She snuggled a little closer to him, rested her head on his shoulder, causing him to wake. He kissed the top of her head.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," she said.

"I'm not sorry to be woken," he answered, honestly.

Lifting her head, she looked him in the eye, feeling nothing but love she greeted him, "good morning."

"_Good_ morning? This is the best morning ever."

They shared their first good morning kiss, the first of many.

Then she smiled shyly at him, they did nothing for the next few minutes except gaze into each other's eyes and marvel at the depth of the love they each saw reflected. After hiding their feelings for so long it was overwhelming to both of them to see the truth. She touched his cheek, still amazed they'd finally managed to be forthright with each other. He caressed her arm, thrilled to feel the chills this gave her.

"Can we stay here forever?" she asked.

"Might get a little inconvenient."

"Hmm, I suppose...," she conceded, then reconsidered, "do you really think it would be that inconvenient?"

"Angela..." he smiled, "how would you get any work done?"

"Work? I'm not thinking about work now."

"Who are you and what have you done with my Angela?"

My Angela? Her smiled grew broader as she let the thrill of those words sink in. She kissed him quickly and said, "maybe your Angela," she sighed as she somehow snuggled a little closer to him, but didn't lose eye contact, "doesn't want to sublimate her feelings in work anymore."

"Oh, nice Psych 101 diagnosis there, Angela," he now imitated a German accent, "so tell me, vhat do you think ze best prescription is vor that?'

She laughed and proceeded to show him that her self-prescribed medicine was kissing him.

After trying out this prescription, Tony asked, "what's the dosage on that very nice medicine, Angela?"

"All day and night, every day and night."

Angela continued administering her prescription; any thoughts of work far from her mind. If they had any luck whatsoever Jonathan would soon be leaving the house for the day and they could continue where they left off last night.

Tony decided that this was his kind of prescription; not only was it the best medicine, the side effects were nice too; no drowsiness, in fact he felt more awake than ever. His blood pressure might be a little elevated, but in this case that was a good side effect too. Pulse seemed a little faster than normal, but he chalked that up as an aerobic exercise. The dosage of this prescription was administered for a very long time, right up until there was a startling knock on the bedroom door.

No luck, of course Jonathan wouldn't leave for the day without saying goodbye.

They broke away from each other instantaneously, which was pointless; it wasn't as though Jonathan could see them no matter how close or far apart they were.

"Mom?"

Panic.

Jonathan, yes, that was his name; her son, who lived in the house. Angela was disconcerted, to say the least. Tony saw this and was amused by Angela's flustered state of being.

"Don't smirk," she whispered to Tony. Any moment now her brain would click back into place and she'd manage to figure out how to deal with this; so far she somehow remembered that she did lock the bedroom door last night so she didn't have to worry about Jonathan opening the door. However, that didn't keep him from asking the question that had prompted him to knock in the first place, "Tony's door is shut, you think he's ok?"

"I'm sure he's fine, honey," she yelled to her son, then whispered, "very fine indeed," to Tony.

"Angela," Tony said in a shocked whisper.

"It's not like him to still be in bed," Jonathan continued.

Angela put a finger to Tony's lips so quickly it shocked Tony. Although Jonathan's unintended straight line had many answers, Tony wasn't going to say a single one. He settled for kissing Angela's finger instead.

She looked at Tony, longing to be back in his arms where she belonged. As much as she loved her son, right now she wanted him to drop his concern for Tony and leave the house so that they could be alone.

In a desperate ploy she yelled, "maybe he went out for a run?"

"But he wouldn't leave his door shut."

"Well, today...he did," she shrugged.

"I'm worried, I'm going to knock."

"No!" Angela said, sounding far too alarmed, "I'll check on him."

She pulled a sheet around her to run to the closet for a bathrobe. Tony thought it was adorable that she was bothering to cover-up, he looked at her quizzically. She turned her head over her shoulder to look back at him, and dropped the sheet to bare her back, the fabric draped enchantingly, creating a curve of fabric at the very bottom of her back. Tony thought the effect likened Angela to a statue of a Greek goddess. He pretended to whistle at her. She shook her head, smiled, and threw her pink robe on. Tony watched the sheet drop and his feelings as it billowed to the floor were a combination of awed wonder and pity. Pity that such an opportunity had to be wasted.

Angela hurried to get out of the bedroom, running her fingers through her hair on the way, trying to tame it. Just before she unlocked the bedroom door she took a deep breath to calm herself; she had to be cool, Jonathan figuring out that she and Tony had spent the night together by her unkempt appearance was not the way she wanted to break this news to him.

She opened the door as narrowly as she could to slip out then almost slammed it behind her. She smiled at her son, "good morning, Jonathan," she said overly brightly, "did you sleep well?"

"Sure," he answered, still confused by her not being concerned about Tony's well being this morning, "did you sleep well?"

"Yes," she answered; that one small word instantly claiming The Understatement of the Year Award.

Tony didn't dare move from the bed just in case it might make a noise, but he heard every word in the hallway and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"Mom...Tony?"

"What?" Angela was momentarily startled thinking Jonathan had figured out the truth, but then remembered, "Tony's room...the door...yes...checking..." Angela walked over to the door, Jonathan watched her, wondering why his mother was so out of it this morning.

She knocked, "Tony?" Amazingly, there was no answer. She knocked again, "Tony?" Once again, no answer; what a surprise. Angela slowly turned the door knob and peeked into Tony's room, "Tony," she gave him one more chance to answer before fully opening the door; but try as she might, Tony did not answer. Shocking, just shocking. Angela opened the door to Tony's empty room, feigning a sense of revelation at his absence, "see, he's out for a run."

"It's not like him to go out and not tell anyone."

"Perhaps he thought he would be back before anyone else was up. Maybe he stopped by the bakery to pick up some croissants for breakfast. I'm sure he's fine." Yes, she was definitely sure of that. She hugged her son and made her way back to her own room. Or was it now their room? Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she considered that thought, 'their room'. Jonathan was now starting to worry about his mother as well as Tony.

"Mom?" Jonathan ventured very hesitantly.

Angela's focus was brought back to her son, she turned to see Jonathan still standing there, and inwardly wondered why he hadn't left yet, "Jonathan, stop being such a worry wart; don't you have things to do today?"

"Yeah, sure, mom."

"Good, then go have fun. I love you."

"Love you too, mom."

Angela smiled, kissed her son, then went back into her or their room, making sure to lock the door behind her.

Jonathan still felt that something was off; it wasn't like his mother to be so unconcerned about Tony's well being. It would have been more like her to frantically throw on some clothes, then comb the streets looking for him. The whole situation was weird; but she'd obviously dismissed him so there was no point in trying to talk to her anymore. He wasn't sure where to turn, then an idea hit him...grandmother. On his way to his grandmother's house he noticed something else odd; the back door was locked. If Tony had been out for a run, the door would have been unlocked. This situation was becoming more weird by the second.

Finally alone with Tony again, Angela sat down on the bed next to him. He put his arms around her and kissed her cheek. "So, I wasn't there?"

"No, you weren't; it was quite a surprise."

"I'll bet."

"Whatever shall I do? Send out a search party for you?"

"I think I'd rather stay lost for a little while longer." A hand dropped to nudge aside the skirt of Angela's robe, that same hand then idly moved itself back and forth along her inner thigh.

Angela smiled and blushed.

"It's nice to see you smile like that."

"I'm only smiling because I am ecstatically happy," then she kissed him quickly for emphasis.

"You want to try for blissfully happy?"

Somehow she managed an even bigger smile and deeper blush.

They kissed again, taking their time to luxuriate in the very pleasant sensation. Angela could feel the joy running through her body all the way down to her toes. Tony paused for a moment, his hand moved up to the knot in the tie of her bathrobe, "it will be nice to have you out of that bathrobe and back into a sheet."

"You liked the sheet, then?"

"You, entwined in a sheet, brings back a lot of good memories, so yes, you could say that I liked it."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"As it is, you're overdressed again."

"You'll have to do something about that, won't you?" she sighed.

Yes, he would have to do something about that; as soon as he finished thoroughly kissing Angela good morning, and that in itself took a while.

They moved to make themselves more comfortable, Angela sighed as she leaned back.

"That was a very contented sigh," Tony noted.

"And your ego is loving that," she replied.

"Me?" he asked innocently. Angela laughed. Tony was tugging at the last vestiges of the bathrobe knot when an insistent knock intruded on their reverie.

"Angela!" Mona yelled.

"Dammit!" Angela whispered.

"Angela, since when are you so unconcerned about Tony?"

Angela was hardly unconcerned, in fact at the moment she was more panicked than when Jonathan had knocked on the door. She had to pull herself together again, pretend this morning was no different from any other; and more than anything else: not open the bedroom door. Jonathan may not have caught the change in her eyes; but there was no hope of the obvious escaping her mother's scrutiny.

Angela sat up and yelled, "what are you talking about?" trying to sound exasperated at the whole situation.

"He's missing. Will you please come out here so we can form a plan."

Angela ignored her mother as best she could, she had to answer her somehow, but leaving the room was out of the question, "missing? I think you and Jonathan are over-reacting. He's out for a run."

Jonathan gave his grandmother a 'you see what I mean?' look.

Mona acknowledged her grandson. Angela's refusal to open the door told her more than Angela's words, she took the opportunity to prod her daughter, "are you sure about that?"

"Where else would he be?"

Mona had to bite her lip, it would be so easy, so very easy to say, "in bed with you," but she didn't want to let them know her suspicions. She was very close to demanding Angela open the door, for the sole reason of enjoying dismayed Angela's reaction; but decided against it, she'd taunted her daughter long enough this morning. It was time to leave her alone; not alone alone, but alone together with Tony alone.

Angela had had enough, it was time to get rid of them, she had other plans for the day, plans that did not include her mother or son, "will both of you relax. Tony grew up in Brooklyn, I am sure he can handle the mean streets of suburban Connecticut."

"Fine Angela, Jonathan and I are going to spend the day in the City."

Success. Hallelujah!

"Fine, try not to spend all of my money in one place, will you?" she yelled back.

"Don't worry, dear; I'm sure we'll find many places to spend it." Mona motioned to her grandson to follow, she tiptoed across the hallway to look into Tony's room. Satisfied at its pristine solitude, she pulled Jonathan downstairs, making as much noise as possible on the way down just to make sure Angela knew they were leaving.

"Of course," Angela answered, unsure if her Mother and Jonathan heard her reply or not; and not really caring. She turned her attention back to where it belonged; on Tony.

Tony sat up and put his arms around her, "that was a close one, Angela. Almost caught by your mother," he said in pretend fear.

"My mother? You mean the one who is probably jumping for joy right about now?"

He laughed as he drew her closer, "yeah, that one."

Mona slammed the front door loudly enough to make sure it could be heard upstairs. She and Jonathan made their way to the car, "are we really going to the City?" he asked.

"Maybe, but first, Sam's."

"Sam's? Why? Oh, I get it, another person to spend mom's money."

"Hmm, partly; but more for the celebration."

"Celebration of what?"

They arrived at the car, Jonathan opened a door for his grandmother, as she sat down she told him, "get in kid, I've got news for you." He obeyed quickly, apprehensive about whatever his grandmother was going to tell him.

They sat, locked in the car, the windows rolled up tight; thereby cutting off any neighbors from nosing in on their conversation.

"First, a question; you actually saw your mother this morning, how did she look?"

Jonathan didn't know what his grandmother was alluding to, "she looked like mom, same as always," he answered.

"She didn't appear to bewitched, bothered or bewildered?"

"Grandma, what are you talking about?"

"Her eyes, Jonathan, how did they look?"

He thought back and shrugged, "I don't remember, I didn't know there would be a quiz."

His worried expression caused his grandmother to relent, "don't worry, Jonathan, your mother spent the night with Tony, that's all."

Jonathan sat there silent and shocked for several moments, then he suddenly said, "that's all? A major shift in their relationship and you brush it off with, 'that's all'?"

"That's all, meaning there is no need to worry, Jonathan," she put a hand on his shoulder, "we have waited for this day for a long time, there's no need to make a fuss about it; although I think I may issue a commemorative mug."

"Grandma!" Jonathan smirked, exasperated.

"There, that's better; now lets go pick up Sam, then we'll spend some of Angela's money on champagne."

"Grandma, I can't drink."

"I won't tell, and this occasion definitely warrants a little bubbly."

"Pity we don't have a 'Do Not Disturb' sign for the door," Jonathan said, not even sure where that idea came from.

Mona smiled, a slightly devious smile that went all the way up to her wickedly sparkling eyes, "I might be willing to part with one from my collection for the day. For the cause."

"Oh no, grandma, you do that and you might as well take out an ad in the _Fairfield_ _Courier_ and announce it."

Mona's eyes unfocused for half a second as she considered the possibility of doing just that, a small announcement in the society column, "Ms. Angela Bower and Mr. Tony Micelli recently consummated their long standing attraction. Congratulatory gifts may be sent to the care of Mona Robinson." She grinned.

"Grandma?"

"What? Oh sorry, Jonathan."

"Don't even think it."

"Too late, but don't worry, I won't actually do it."

"The announcement or the "Do Not Disturb" sign?" he asked, wary of her possible answer.

"I won't do either one, I promise," she even crossed her heart. Jonathan looked relieved. She conceded, "after all they might happen to come downstairs, see the sign and remove it. Then they'll know we know. We've started a new game Jonathan; we pretend we don't know, they pretend they don't know we know."

"Huh? You mean we have to go around from now on pretending nothing's changed?"

"Yes, if they want to play this little game with us; we'll play it better," Mona said, a little distracted thinking about all the ways this could play out.

"Are you really sure about this, Grandma?" still not quite comprehending this upheaval in the household, and maybe still in denial, "how do you know Tony isn't out running?"

"Oh, I have no doubt Angela is taking care of Tony's exercise needs. She was trying to get rid of us too badly and her voice was much more...relaxed. There was no bathrobe on his bed, the room was devoid of life."

"Grandma! This is my mother you are talking about!" He was this close to putting his hands over his ears and shutting his eyes tightly and saying, "la la la la la," to ward off anything else his grandmother might say.

Mona rolled her eyes, "C'mon kiddo, let's go," and leave they did.

The exultant knock on Sam's door was greeted with a perky, "come in!" Mona opened the door so quickly it made Jonathan's head spin.

"Hi Sam!" she beamed. Sam looked at her, wondering why Mona was in such a good mood this morning.

Jonathan saw the look on Sam's face and helped her out, "sit down, Sam; grandma has news she's dying to tell you. I may need to sit down too," and he did. Sam looked at Jonathan, he was shell-shocked. She sat down next to him and looked at Mona, she was still beaming.

"What?" Sam asked, wanting to be in on whatever was causing such strong reactions in both Mona and Jonathan.

"Your father's bed was not slept in last night," Mona dropped, then stopped for a moment, "I should call it his former bed, I doubt he'll be spending much time there from now on."

Sam slowly stood up from the couch and asked very warily; "it wasn't?" Mona couldn't be implying what she hoped she was implying, was she?

"It wasn't," Mona answered with a triumphant finality.

Sam was stunned speechless. This was so unexpected. She looked at Mona, "this better not be a joke, because if it is, it's not funny."

"No joke, Sam," Mona soothed.

"Really, really?" Sam asked, hope creeping into her words, "I mean you saw them and they confirmed it?"

"No, we didn't see them and that confirmed it. Well, Jonathan saw his mother; but that was part of the confirmation."

"Tell me everything!" Sam demanded.

Eager for the new audience, Mona sat Sam down; then she sat in between her two grandchildren and told Sam the events of the morning. Sam's attention was riveted to every word. Jonathan slumped against the back of the couch, still trying to come to terms with the new world they were living in.

Mona finished her recitation and Sam jumped up from the couch and clasped her hands together. It was too unbelievable. Finally, after all this time, just when she was about to give up on them. "This is the best news ever," was all she could say. She found herself unexpectedly overcome with emotion. Crying, she sat back down on the couch, Mona put an arm around her, "it is the best news ever," she agreed.

Sam dried her tears, "I'm just relieved. I didn't want him to be alone."

"You never had to worry about that, Sam. If Angela hadn't come to her senses your father would have found someone else eventually; he loves too well and too fiercely to be alone forever."

"Maybe, but I wanted him with Angela, that's the way it should be.

"And it is."

Sam went back to smiling; but she was also a little jealous, wishing for a very brief moment that she still lived in the house so she could have been part of the fun, "did you see the love in her eyes this morning, Jonathan?"

"You can always see the love for Tony in mom's eyes."

This was true enough.

"How was I supposed to know I should have looked for something different this morning? I mean, yeah, she seemed a little out of it this morning, but I thought it was just because it was...morning," he shook his head, still in shock. A sudden, terrible realization hit him, "I was in the house last night, just a few feet away!"

"Jonathan, I know that these two have been a poor example, but this is normal adult behavior," his grandmother tried to be the voice of reason.

Jonathan was unconvinced, an idea formed, he looked at his grandmother, but then decided that that would just be out of the frying pan and into the fire. He looked at Sam, "can I come live with you?"

Sam smiled, "wonderful idea, Jonathan, but how are we going to keep up the charade if you are here with me? Plus, I don't think Angela wants you moving out of the house yet."

"I need headphones."

"Jonathan, they won't be doing anything they didn't do last night," Sam tried to reason.

"Yeah, but I didn't know last night. It makes a difference."

"Jonathan, this is a 'be careful what you wish for moment'," his grandmother cautioned; too late.

"You can't hold me to that, I was a kid, I didn't know what I was saying. Maybe I can convince Mom to move her office upstairs and I'll move my stuff downstairs."

"Great idea, but how are you going to suggest that and not let on that you know?" Sam pointed out.

"I'm a teenager, I'll just tell her I want to be closer to the fridge. Wait, maybe I'll move into the basement, that's even farther away, and less complicated."

That could work. And it did. Jonathan simply pointed out to his mother that a young man his age needed a little more space. To no one's surprise, Angela didn't argue with the idea. Jonathan was comfortable; a fully finished basement was good practice for being on his own, and it was very quiet.

"C'mon, kids; let's go pick up Mrs. Rossini and do some celebrating." The kids agreed with this plan. First Mona stopped to purchase a bottle of champagne (on the agency's credit card), then they drove to Mrs. Rossini's apartment and drink the champagne. Over lunch (also paid for by Angela) the Club vowed to let the lovebirds play their game, but they weren't going to discontinue their meetings for there was still much to plan. After lunch, four very happy people shopped (again paid for by Angela); but they weren't anywhere near as happy as the two left back in Connecticut.

Back at the house, Tony brought up an important topic, "Angela, your mother is not going to be fooled," he touched her cheek, "she's got to know; it's obvious to her if not Jonathan."

"I know, I'm sure she figured it out the second Jonathan knocked on her door telling her you were nowhere to be found. She'll let us be, and she'll let the kids know to let us be."

"I hope you're right. Seems to me that now is her opportunity to inflict more barbs."

"She would have done that already this morning if she was going to take that route. She's been waiting too long for this to meddle now, she'll keep up the pretense; at least for as long as it suits her purposes. When it doesn't suit her purposes any more, watch out."

Tony could do nothing but nod in agreement and caress Angela.

Angela paused, his touch was making it even more difficult to find the words to express what her heart was feeling, "I want to savor this...just you and me for a little while. We've waited so long, I want to take the time now to revel in this love. Oh, it's so nice to say that word...love."

"Yes, it is, Love," he agreed.

Angela smiled, Tony had just called her 'Love' and it enraptured her to the core of her soul. Her eyes were soft and vulnerable, in them Tony saw nothing but love and joy. He was actually a little humbled by the depth of the feeling he saw there and hoped Angela saw the same emotions reflected in his own eyes. She did. He wanted to kiss her again, desperately; but he didn't want to break eye contact. It was a dilemma, one he solved by kissing his fingertips and gently letting them trail up and down her neck. She liked the answer to his dilemma, but couldn't tell him that as she was beyond words, she was beyond any thought other than wanting out of her bathrobe immediately.

Tony eventually gave in to his desire to kiss her, and he also read Angela's mind by pushing her bathrobe off her shoulders and letting it drop to the bed. Angela felt the fabric slip down her back and pulled him back down on to the bed. Having no other demands on their time they spent as much of it as they could expressing and exalting in this too long suppressed love.

And at some point; much later in the day; they even managed to call and have some croissants delivered for their cover story. After all, they were hungry. Very hungry.


	8. Monday, Monday

Monday, Monday

Never before had Angela regretted her responsibility to delve into the intricacies of the office; so it took her by surprise that this Monday she was reluctant to leave Tony and return to the mundane activities of work. It shouldn't have been so much of a surprise, after all she'd spent the weekend basking in the bliss of romance, how could the cold statistics of advertising compare with Tony?

They couldn't.

Angela sighed as she tried to pick out an outfit for the day. She was having a difficult time trying to accomplish this single task, how was she ever going to make it through the day? How would she focus on her work? She'd miss him so. Angela pulled out a suit and tried to clear her head. This was silly, really. She was a grown woman, a successful business owner; thinking like a lovesick teenager. She'd go to work, Tony would go to class. They'd see each other when the day's tasks were over.

It was no use. No matter how much Angela tried to be an adult all she could think about were the far too many hours between now and when she and Tony would be together again. Hours and hours of no contact with Tony. The day seemed rather bleak, even though the sun was shining.

Angela threw on the suit she had picked out, not really caring if it was becoming to her or not as Tony wouldn't see her in it. He was already off to class, she wouldn't see him until she arrived home from work. Never before had a Monday seemed so long.

Oh, she hoped he'd call her at lunchtime.

Monday mornings at The Bower Agency always started with a staff meeting. This Monday was no different; donuts, fruit, coffee, tea; the banal trappings of corporate America. Angela walked into the meeting room and saw it all through changed eyes. Everyone around the table looked the same as they did on Friday, she felt a little sorry for them. No matter what their activities had been over the weekend, she was sure none of them could compare with the other worldly relationship she and Tony had established.

Angela's business sense reluctantly kicked in as she looked around the table, she called the meeting to order. Everyone sat down to review last week's business and set the goals for today and the rest of the week. Fifteen minutes into the meeting the phone rang, Mona left the room to answer it. Angela's heart skipped a beat hoping it was Tony calling. Then she secretly hoped it wasn't Tony calling, how would it look to the rest of the staff if Tony called her here? Then she remembered that Tony had called the office in the past from time to time so it wouldn't be unusual for him to call. She had to remind herself that no one else would view a phone call from Tony as being out of place. They had no reason to suspect anything; except of course, her mother and she was quite certain her mother expected Tony to call today too.

It was after all this back and forth in Angela's mind that Mona returned to tell Angela that Mr. Anderson was on the line. Angela excused herself from the meeting to take the call. She wasn't gone long before Jack made the following observation, "does Angela seem a little out of it this morning or is it just my imagination?"

Mona, looking like the cat that had eaten several canaries answered, "she does, doesn't she?"

"You don't think?" Jack asked cautiously. He'd been observing Tony and Angela for years; their attraction had been obvious to him from the moment he met them. Their decision to stay apart was one he never completely understood.

The members of Angela's office team were shocked into silence. They waited in hushed anticipation for Mona to confirm what they had all long ago taken for eventual granted. Mona smiled, lapping up the attention, "she hasn't said anything," then her smile grew a little more wicked, "but she doesn't have to, I can see right through her, and she is _very_ happy."

"And Tony?" Jack prompted.

"Also, _very _happy. They are being so cute, acting as though nothing happened, when it is so obvious it did. The pretense around the house is amusing. Jonathan, Sam and I pretend we don't know anything happened while Tony and Angela pretend they don't know that we know. If they want to play their little games, that's fine with us. It beats the former pretense of them ignoring their real feelings for each other."

The meeting room was quiet for a moment or two while the news sank in. Finally Marjorie ventured, "do you mean, that after all this time, someone can finally be awarded the money in the office pool?"

"Yes," Mona said, grinning triumphantly.

"Quick," Marjorie continued, "before Angela comes back, who had last night?"

"No, not last night," Mona corrected, "the night before. They were both 'very happy' yesterday, not that we saw much of them. Jonathan and I left the house after speaking to Angela through her bedroom door. Strange that she didn't want to show her face to me. They're so cute, trying to hide the obvious," Mona was delighting in dropping all the details she could. She crafted her next sentence to sound as though it mystified her, "Tony was missing from the house. His door was shut. Where; oh where, could he have been? Angela tried to dismiss his absence by saying he was out for a run," and here Mona had another chance to use her favorite joke from the past couple of days, she changed her tone of voice to one dropping the hottest gossip, "I'm sure Angela made sure Tony got his morning exercise without him ever leaving the house."

That settled it, everyone grinned; some laughed at Mona's joke. Jack hurriedly pulled out the well worn notebook containing the pertinent information. They'd long ago stopped taking new bets. The pool started as a lark, obviously Mona's idea. Each month, new bets, each month slipping by with no winner. Eventually they filled in every day on the calendar; from that point on they kept the same bets, there were people still holding bets who stopped working for Angela ages ago.

"I hope Tony calls her some time today so we can all connect on the extension and listen to her lamenting how much she misses him and making nauseating kissing noises," Mona schemed. A couple of other people around the table looked eager to join her in that activity.

Jack quelled all of them with a, 'hell, no' look.

Mona pouted.

"So, who wins?" Steve asked, hoping for an early pay day this week.

Jack shook his head, "inevitable...Mona."

She grinned smugly, "as it should be; hand over the access to the money, Jack; momma needs a new pair of shoes, and a purse, and coat."

"With the interest that's been accruing on this money, you could go on a cruise around the world."

"Good idea," Mona agreed.

"Great idea, but how do you tell Angela where you got the money to go on a cruise?" Marjorie pointed out.

"Who cares," Steve interrupted, "what I want to know is, how did you guess the correct day?"

"Simple; these two are such sentimental saps I knew that if they ever did manage to...fully explore their true feelings for each other, it would be somewhere around a significant date for them. What's more significant to them than their anniversary? Which brings up the obvious question, 'who do they think they have been kidding all these years?' Who celebrates the anniversary of the day they met without it being a romantic date? Yet for years those two kept trying to pass it off as a family activity. Denial, denial, denial." She rolled her eyes, remembering how she tried to point out the obvious to Angela years ago, but she would have none of it. She'd left them alone, tried to give them a virtual shove in the proper direction, yet still they resisted. In her opinion they'd lost years of happiness because of their baseless fears.

The sound of Angela's office door opening was their cue to end this conversation. Angela would be back in the meeting soon and now that the everyone was in on the secret, they had to pretend that they were not in on the secret. It really wasn't much of a secret at this point. Jack actually managed to get them back on an advertising topic; but in their hearts everyone felt just a little let down that the large sum of money had been awarded; to Mona, not them. Mona was of course happy as a lark; for many reasons. Angela was very happy, Tony was very happy; and now that she had enough money to indulge in some personal whims, she was very happy.

"Ok, everyone; back to the Phillips account, what did you come up with while I was gone?" Angela looked around the table, but saw no one offering a suggestion. In fact they seemed to be avoiding looking at her at all. She made a mental note that her mother had a big mouth; not that this was news, and she shouldn't have been surprised that her mother dropped this bit of gossip the first thing on a Monday morning, but she now had to come up with a way of dealing with it. She was still the boss, no matter what was happening in her personal life. It didn't take her long, she consulted the file for the account and outlined the steps they were going to take to achieve their goals. She noted with some satisfaction that everyone was busy scribbling away on their legal pads. She hoped it was actual work they were writing about and not childish doodles commenting on the new status of her relationship with Tony.

When Angela was finally done talking she dismissed the staff and returned to her private office; it was the safest place for her to be today. There hadn't been enough time for everyone to thoroughly discuss her news while she had been on the phone and she knew they still had more to talk about. She decided it was best for her to stay isolated for a while and let them get all the twittering out of their systems. And, as much as she hated the idea, she hoped Tony wouldn't call her at work today; it would just incite more gossip. Angela settled into her work, glad for the distraction it gave her at the moment.

Around 11:30am the phone rang, Angela didn't pay much attention to it, she had succeeded in becoming engrossed in her work.

Mona, however, had been answering the phone today with such alacrity it would have shocked Angela if she had noticed it. It certainly wasn't the business that accounted for Mona's promptness today; each time the phone rang she picked it up hoping it was Tony calling. She knew he'd call; or at least he'd better call if he knew what was good for him, if he didn't call she'd ignore him forever for not calling her little girl.

"Hiya, Mona," Tony said.

Yes, finally; hallelujah! He called, now she didn't have to be mad at him.

"Hello, Tony; how are you today?" Mona asked, trying to make that sound like an innocent question when it was of course anything but.

Tony wasn't taking the bait, "Fine, Mona, and yourself?"

"Just fine here, thanks."

"Is Angela available?"

Of course Tony meant that as, 'is Angela free to take a call, as in not on another line or in a meeting,' but Mona's mind raced. She had to bite her lip to keep from saying something close to, "I think you've changed Angela's status to most definitely unavailable to all but one," how she kept from saying that she never really knew, but she only answered, "I'll check," trying to make it sound like Angela wouldn't drop everything for Tony's call and that today was just another day in their normal relationship.

Mona put Tony on hold and buzzed in to Angela, "Angela, Mr. Micelli is on line one."

"Mr. Micelli?" Angela mouthed, confused as to why her mother was being so formal in relation to Tony. Probably a thinly veiled comment on their new relationship she decided.

Mona's motives weren't that needling, she was just giddy at her daughter's finally confessed love and that happiness manifested in being a little silly.

Angela picked up the phone, she hoped she didn't pick up so quickly that her mother would have more ammunition for the gossip mill.

Poor Mona, she now had a dilemma: hang up or listen in. She hated herself for the decision, and she couldn't believe she was making this choice even as she did it; but she dropped the handset onto the phone, making sure Angela heard her disconnect. Then she jumped up from her chair and immediately informed everyone else in the office that Tony was on the phone.

Angela was amazed, she would have bet the agency that her mother would have listened in on this conversation. Still, she couldn't be sure her mother wouldn't pick up the phone again, so they had to be circumspect in their conversation. But that was ok, it was another chance to indulge in dating under her mother's nose. Even if her mother knew; and approved...greatly.

"Hi," Tony said simply.

"Hi," Angela answered just as simply, but with a little touch of shyness as well. She wasn't sure how to have this conversation. They hadn't discussed office phone calls, somehow they were more preoccupied with far less mundane tasks over the weekend. She couldn't very well tell him not to say anything romantic over the phone just in case someone happened to be listening in. She wouldn't put it past her mother to have jumped up from her chair and run into one of the other offices and listen in with some of the other workers in there.

Tony seemed to understand this without Angela having to say anything. He knew Mona well also. "How's your morning?"

"Fine."

"Yours?"

"Fine."

It's a good thing Mona wasn't listening it, she'd have been bored out of her mind.

They were quiet; both wanting to say so much, but neither daring to cross the unspoken line they had created.

What did they really want to say? "I miss you and I can't wait to be in your arms again." But those words would have to wait until another time. For now they were left with Angela asking, "how was your class?"

Tony couldn't answer that class was almost a waste of time for him this morning because he couldn't concentrate on the lecture. His thoughts kept straying to Angela. And as much as he thought she'd like to hear that he had to limit his answer to, "it was fine, I have a lot of studying to do for it." This was true, he had to go back over everything he had missed in class.

"I can help you study," that came out in a far more sexy tone than Angela had intended and she immediately regretted it.

Tony regretted it too, but only because they were so far apart.

"I should let you get back to work, I'll see you later."

"Ok," Angela answered, she hoped he heard how much she didn't want to hang up the phone. They were both quiet, letting the silence say, "I miss you."

"Bye," Tony finally said in a tone that turned the word into code for, "I love you."

"Bye," Angela answered, invoking the same code.

They managed to hang up the phones without any juvenile, "you hang up," "no, you hang up," banter.

That didn't mean romance was dead, in fact, Tony took a moment or two to remove his hand from the phone. He pursed his lips together and looked at his watch. "Too long," he thought, too long until Angela would come home and he could hold her again.

Angela kept her hand on the phone as though it was a talismanic link to Tony. She whispered, "I love you" even though no one heard her. Then she reluctantly pulled her hand off the phone and looked at the clock. Too many hours, she decided, too many hours until she could be home and home was definitely where her heart was.


	9. A Penny For Your Thoughts

Sorry, it's been a long week and it's about to get worse. This is a "To Be Continued" chapter; hopefully the rest will be posted on Tuesday or Wednesday (or maybe earlier if things go well). In better news, the chapters slated to be posted for the next two Saturdays only need minor tweaking, so they won't be late. Sorry again, thanks for reading.

It was just another normal payday, week in week out, same old same old; Angela dropped the check on the kitchen table, then made her way to the back door, off for another Friday of playing the advertising game on the isle of Manhattan. However, instead of her usual routine, Angela did something that shocked Tony into realizing that today was definitely not same old, same old. Today, Angela paused long enough to squeeze his hand and give him a quick kiss goodbye on her way out the door.

"See ya, later, hon," she said as she blew him another kiss.

"See ya," he waved as she shut the door.

Now he was troubled. All of a sudden, the check on the table seemed to be accusing him. It was ridiculous of course, it was just a simple piece of paper with some writing on it, how could it accuse him of anything? Still, he pushed it under a place mat to get it out of his sight, then turned to finish breakfast cleanup. Try as he might to ignore it, the check still haunted him from its hiding place. Tony gave up on the dishes to confront the uneasy feeling he had had ever since Angela dropped that check on the table.

"All right, you," he said, grabbing the document from under the place mat. It looked so innocuous, so banal. It had no right to be. He stared at it, wondering why it was bothering him so much. It was the same paycheck as last week and the week before. Same style, same numbers, same handwriting, same everything. So why did it feel so different? Realizing it wasn't the check that was different, it was him, Tony sank into a chair. Resting his elbow on the table, he forced himself to look at the new reality of his relationship with Angela.

Did they cross a line they shouldn't have crossed? Funny, that was a thought that hadn't entered his mind until the check blithely flitted its way onto the table. All of a sudden his relationship with Angela was exposed in a harsh light. Had he suddenly become what David Lee Roth complained about being, 'just a gigolo'? No, it was silly, their relationship had changed, but the truth of their feelings hadn't; they'd only decided to acknowledge their feelings instead of ignoring them. That didn't turn their relationship into something tawdry.

Tawdry would have been if he had taken that cabal of women up on their offer all those years ago. He'd never told Angela about that. Five neighboring women, all willing to...enhance his income...if he could see his way to spending a little time with them during the day. Individually, of course. At least he always thought they meant individually; he'd dismissed the idea so quickly when it had been proposed he never even thought about their conditions. It was no wonder rumors regarding his relationship with Angela started so quickly. He shuddered to think about how Angela would react if she ever found out about that even after all this time.

He dismissed this line of thought; he and Angela had worked on their relationship for years, belittling neighbors would be something neither one of them would tolerate. So why was he still so uneasy? He took a few more minutes to come up with an answer, but none was forthcoming. There was no more time to devote to his problem, he had a class to get to and it was time to be on his way. He pushed his thoughts aside to focus on his scholarly journey.

Angela went through her day at work blissfully unaware of Tony's predicament, thoughts of the upcoming weekend filled her mind. Jonathan had plans to spend the weekend with Sam, which meant they would have the house to themselves for two days. Two days, alone together, the possibilities were endless. Thinking of endless possibilities, a delightfully delicious thought sashayed through her mind; maybe it was time to indulge in some new lingerie. No, it wasn't a maybe, it was definitely time. She smiled, looked at her calendar for the day and decided there wasn't anything she couldn't delegate. Yes, definitely time for some shopping, with any luck she'd even make it home before Tony and be waiting for him wearing a very nice surprise.

Angela gathered her stuff, made a couple of quick phone calls to her staff members, then sailed past her mother with only a wave and a, "have a nice weekend," as she sauntered out the door. Mona was struck silent by her daughter's behavior for a moment or two; then suddenly she twirled around in her swivel chair and yelled, "yippee!" so loudly that several workers left their offices to see what the fuss was about.

"She really left, didn't she?" Jack asked, entering the lobby for confirmation of Angela's departing phone call, "I still can't believe it."

"Believe it," Mona answered, to prove it she decided to reenact Angela's departure. She left her chair and sauntered to the door, "have a nice weekend," she waved. The staff laughed, shook their heads, and, knowing that their workday would have no reprieve, returned to their offices. Even Mona happily returned to work, so enthusiastic was she over the recent turn of events in her daughter's life. The office had been a much more contented place to work since this turn in Angela's personal life; there was more laughter, more communication, and even more creativity. Angela's office hadn't been a terrible place to work before her new romance, but Angela's consistent good mood combined with these unexpected benefits made the office so pleasant even Mona didn't mind working.

A flustered Angela tried to fit her key in the kitchen door; of course today of all days it would decide to be difficult when she tried to turn it. Her shopping had taken far longer than she had anticipated; likely because once she started she didn't want to stop. This, however, made her saleslady at Bloomingdale's very happy. The train ride home seemed to take forever too, although it didn't take any longer than usual, it was just Angela's agitated state of mind manifesting in impatience. Angela looked at the key, and shook her head, no wonder it didn't work, this was the key to Mona's apartment. She took a breath to calm herself and then used the correct key to enter her own home.

Angela had to hurry, she didn't have as much time as she had planned before Tony was due to arrive home. Eager to be upstairs and changing into something much more comfortable, Angela slammed the door behind her and rushed through the kitchen, carrying her precious purchases with her. It didn't take her long to change into her favorite new outfit, a long champagne colored satin charmeuse gown with matching silk organza peignoir. She twirled around and looked at herself in the mirror, elated to feel so feminine and sensuous.

Throwing the rest of the bags in the closet, along with her purse and her work clothes, Angela rushed back downstairs to finish preparations for Tony's arrival. She collected the proper accoutrements for the night; the champagne, the ice bucket to chill the champagne, the glasses, and really that was it, there was nothing else she needed. Pleased with herself for managing to arrange everything before time ran out, she sat on the couch and tried to decide how to best pose herself. It was a difficult decision. Would Tony come in to the house from the front door or the kitchen? Angela stretched out on the couch facing the kitchen, placing an arm over her head very precisely, but trying to make it look casual. She stayed there for a couple of seconds before deciding that this was not the best option. Next, she sat with her back to the front door and put her hands on her knees. She turned her head toward the front door and said, "hi, Tony." Nope, that one didn't work either, not at all welcoming.

Angela got up from the couch and paced, she glared at the couch like it was its fault she wasn't coming up with any sort of seductive pose. She stopped, put one foot up on the couch and leaned over like she was checking her stockings. She shook her head, definitely not, she wasn't even wearing stockings, so what was the point?

How difficult was this? She was an advertising executive, she was used to manipulating a product for a desired effect. Why was it more challenging when she was the product? In frustration she sat down on the couch. On a whim she picked up a champagne glass; yes, a prop, maybe that's what she needed. She held the glass out, "fill my glass, Tony?" No; absolutely not. Defeated, Angela returned the glass to the coffee table and put her head in her hands.

The stillness allowed her to hear the key at the front door lock. She was out of time, without even thinking she faced the door and tucked her legs up on the couch behind her. She arranged her sheer robe so it draped around her and off the couch, then she leaned one arm on the back of the couch and the other on her lap. Simple, effective and done without over thinking.

Tony finally opened the door, he was glad to be home, it had been a long day in which he had been far too distracted by this morning's morose thoughts. He'd start dinner and take the alone time he had before Angela's arrival to try and sort through what he was going to say to Angela tonight. For as much as he wanted to avoid the subject, pretend that money didn't play into their relationship at all, he couldn't. They would have to confront this issue, and he was not looking forward to this conversation.

Tony shut the door, threw his books on the desk and stopped in his tracks; amazed.

"Hi."

"Hi," Tony barely managed to answer. He blinked a couple of times, maybe he was dreaming? Angela couldn't be sitting on the couch wearing almost nothing, could she? "Angela?" he asked the apparition.

"Yes, Tony."

She answered, so either Angela really was home or somehow his imagination was creating an Angela that could talk. That didn't mean his powers of speech were currently adequate to engage with her.

"Tony?" the apparition prompted, "are you all right?"

Tony did his best to recover his wits, "sure...Angela," obviously he hadn't made much progress.

Angela was thrilled she could unnerve him so. "I went shopping today, Tony."

"I noticed," a too late entry for the Understatement of the Year Award.

This wasn't going as Angela had planned. She thought Tony would be more demonstrative, and a little closer to her by this point; specifically on the couch with her and not still dawdling by the door. "Tony, I thought you would like this outfit."

He looked at her, longingly, "Oh yeah, I like it. I like it a lot, but you'd better go change Angela, you wouldn't want Mona to come in and catch you dressed like that, would you?"

"If you mean because her resulting jump for joy might break some china, then yes, I would be worried, but Mother isn't dropping by the house this weekend, at all. She's leaving us our privacy. So, why don't you show me how much you like this new outfit? Upstairs, maybe?" she hinted.

He was still being recalcitrant, Angela was confused, "Tony, what's wrong?"

"What?" was his only answer.

Yes, he was distracted, and what bothered Angela the most was that it wasn't her new nightgown that was doing the distracting, he seemed completely lost in his own little world, one that did not include her.

Angela moved, she put her legs on the floor and took her arm off the back of the couch, "Tony, please come sit down." They were both a little startled when he actually managed to perform that task, even if he did sit as far away from her as he could. Angela noticed his distance and started to worry, "did something happen at school?"

"No, Angela, everything is fine."

"Then why are you over there and why are we wasting time talking? There are much better options for the evening," she slid her fingers up his forearm to remind him of those better options.

"Sorry, Angela," he turned, pulling his arm away from her.

Now Angela was beyond puzzled and heading into fear, "Tony, there's obviously something bothering you. Will you please tell me what it is?" she asked tenderly.

He faced her, she was so beautiful and looking at him with nothing but compassion in her eyes, he felt like a jerk. How could he have let some insecure thoughts this morning intrude on their relationship? He leaned forward to kiss her, Angela welcomed him; but realized instantly that his kiss was cold and distant.

She broke away, confused. She looked at him, her expression questioning his actions. Tony rose from the couch and walked away from her. Angela's fears were now full blown, she couldn't imagine why Tony was essentially pushing her away. The only reason she could fathom for Tony's reluctance tonight was one which overtook her rational nature and exposed her deepest fear; that maybe Tony had seen Kathleen at school today. Worse, maybe he had done more than just see Kathleen at school today. Whatever the reason for Tony's reticence, one thing was obvious, it was time for a change of wardrobe.

"Tony, I'm going upstairs to change, I'll be back soon," she said as she made her way to the staircase.

He acknowledged her with a nod, watching her go upstairs. The diaphanous fabric of the peignoir floated behind her, making Angela look ethereal as she walked dejectedly to her room. When he could no longer see her, he slumped back onto the couch and tried to focus on how to start this conversation they were going to have to have.

Angela tried to control the ache of her heart as she opened her bedroom door, it was a battle she lost.

Downstairs, Tony was angry with himself for rejecting Angela. Here was the woman he loved; warm, passionate, wearing almost nothing and he treated her as though she had the plague. She might never forgive him for letting her down so coldly; hell, he might never forgive himself.

Angela returned, with each step down the stairs, her greatest fears overwhelmed her. What if Kathleen told Tony he had a child somewhere? She had no doubt Tony would marry Kathleen because he felt it would be the right thing to do; but where would that leave her? Alone and heartbroken, that's where it would leave her.

She was terrified of losing Tony, and now she may be confronted with that very situation. "Tony," she called, her voice shaky.

He looked at her and stood up to greet her; she had most certainly changed clothes, gray sweats, decidedly not sexy. He only had himself to blame.

"Tony, please, just say whatever it is you have to say," she implored, each word a tortured struggle.

He didn't know where to begin. He looked at her and saw something he didn't like, anxiety, "sit down, Angela," he asked out of concern. This only made her more uneasy, but she did sit down on the couch. He sat down next to her.

"This isn't easy...," he started.

Angela gripped her hands together in an effort to ward off the worst.

Tony was still perplexed by Angela's behavior, he reached out to touch her hands, "Angela...," he didn't have a chance to say any more because Angela jumped up from the couch away from him. That was a reaction to his touch that had never happened before, he definitely didn't like it.

"Just say it, Tony," she pleaded, facing away from him, "you saw Kathleen today, didn't you?"

Tony was stunned into silence, which wasn't the best response to Angela at the moment as it only confirmed her suspicions. Of course it hadn't confirmed anything; he was just shocked, Kathleen's name hadn't been mentioned between them in, he couldn't remember how long, months at least.

He stood up, "Angela, I didn't see Kathleen today, I haven't seen her since we broke up."

Angela leaned against the back of the side chair in relief, but still didn't turn to face him.

He dared to take a step or two closer to her, "Angela, why the sudden anxiety? What brought this on?"

"I thought you were going to break up with me."

"Break up with you?" that was a thought that had never occurred to him, "why?"

Now she finally turned around, but she still help onto the back of the chair for support, "you've barely spoken to me all night."

"I had something on my mind."

"Are you going to tell me what it is; or do I keep having to guess?"

He held out a hand to her, "Angela, sit down, please." Warily she took his hand and let him sit them on the couch.

To Be Continued...Soon.


	10. Penny For Your Thoughts Part II

Thanks for your patience, everyone. Some actual dialogue from the show and a bit; because, really, I have no objection to funny. A special dedication to Gayle for saying the right words at the right time to keep me from throwing my hands up in overwhelm on this one.

Tony continued to hold Angela's hand, but he still hadn't broached the topic that was bothering him, in fact he was having trouble even looking at her.

Angela decided to start the conversation for him, she gently caressed his hand and said, "Tony, we have always been able to talk about anything. We can't lose our honesty with each other now that we're an 'us'. We need our open lines of communication more than ever." Fear started to creep into her mind, a nagging, desperate thought of, "there is still an 'us', isn't there?"

"I don't know where to begin."

"How about starting where whatever it is that's bothering you, started...bothering you."

He let go of her hand and stood up; actions which did nothing to calm Angela's insecurities. He took a couple of steps away from her, toward the kitchen, then stopped and turned to her. "Angela, I don't know if I can handle this."

In her eyes Tony saw a pleading question, she voiced it, "handle what?"

"Us."

Angela's heart crumbled, "why not?" she whispered hoarsely.

Tony sat back down on the couch, he could see he was hurting Angela and he wished more than anything he could take her pain away. Instead, he was going to have to confront this problem, and that was going to cause Angela more pain. He hated what he had to do; but there was no avoiding this. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket, extracted his paycheck and threw it onto the coffee table.

Angela recognized it and shrugged, "your paycheck? You're keeping your hands off me because of your paycheck? I don't understand."

"Angela, people have been talking about us for years."

"So?"

"So? Don't you care about what people say about you? Because I do."

It was sweet of Tony to be concerned about her reputation, no matter how outdated the thought, "Tony, if I haven't cared before, why should I care now?" It was true she hadn't cared what people said about them, if neighborhood gossip had her sleeping with Tony, denial was her only way to contradict that theory. The gossips never believed the truth anyway, so why bother? One of the deepest secrets of Angela's heart was that in some of her loneliest moments, the rumor of her sleeping with Tony brought her solace.

"Because now it isn't a rumor; it's true," he stated.

"They don't know that."

"That's it exactly, Angela. It's a secret, something we hide."

"I thought we made a mutual decision to keep this between ourselves...," she moved closer to him and very flirtatiously caressed his cheek with her palm, "for...fun."

He cleared his throat.

"Tony, if you want to change that policy, I have no objection."

"No, no," still a little agitated, he pulled away.

She sighed, annoyed, "then what is it that's really bothering you?"

His own pain was reflected in his next words, "Angela, no matter where I end up, or how successful I am, you'll always be the breadwinner and I'll be making crumbs."

"Tony, money is not the measure of a man."

Tony wished he could agree with her, he really did; but their economic inequality bothered him no matter how much he tried to ignore it. In all the years he and Angela had been 'together' this inequality hadn't bothered him, he was surprised their closer relationship was developing a sense of inferiority in him, no matter how much it shouldn't have been a surprise to him. "Angela, from the earliest days of my childhood it was drummed into me, 'you're a man, you have a responsibility to provide for your loved ones.'"

"Relationships have moved beyond that, Tony."

"Maybe some have."

"So what do you want me to do? Sell the agency, go back to being a copywriter and let you support us?"

"You'd do that for us?"

She shook her head, she loved this man beyond reason, but she wasn't giving up a piece of herself to placate his bruised male ego, instead she reminded him of his place in her heart, "Tony, you were the one I leaned on to start that business. You were my rock during that very dark period of my life. I cried on your shoulder. I relied on you for everything, and you never let me down. You supported me through all the worst times of my life; my divorce, almost losing Jonathan to Michael, the nights that could have been lonely if I hadn't had you to share them with. You are so very precious to me; there are times, even now, when I am not sure that you know that."

Tony was humbled and awed by her words.

Angela now had her own bridge to cross, and if she wasn't careful, it could turn into a burned bridge between them; cautiously she started, "you know that every day of my life I run up against men who can't handle the fact that I am a successful woman. I thought you were different, that's one of the things I love about you," she was terrified by the realization that when it came down to it Tony was also intimidated by her success. She tried honesty as a means to bridge the gap, "I always thought that if there ever were an 'us' that we wouldn't have this problem. You've seen the effects of it first hand. I thought you were strong enough. No, I know you are; you've been my strength through so much."

"I've been your strength?"

"Of course, where would I be without you?"

"Probably on the Board of Directors of some big ad agency," he thought, but didn't voice.

Angela intruded on his introspection, "it's sadly ironic, they say the number one thing couples fight about is money. I can't believe I was naïve enough to think it was the lack of money that caused the arguments, I never thought the opposite could be true. Tony, I can't bear to lose you over money, I can't bear to lose you over anything." Her words were achingly honest.

Tony saw the truth in her eyes. He tried to say something, but could think of nothing.

"Tony, can't you think of it as our money?" the second she said the words, she knew they were a mistake, for many reasons. For one, it crossed a line. A man as proud as Tony would never accept her money as his own. All the times she'd tried to help Sam through the years and had been denied told her that. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."

They were both silent, trying to come up with any solution; but Angela was too stunned by this evening's revelations and Tony too worn out from thinking about this all day to come up with any answers.

"Angela, we are both exhausted, let's get some sleep and discuss this in the morning."

It was true, if not physically exhausted, they were both emotionally exhausted.

"You mean alone?" it wasn't really a question.

"Yes, alone."

"Fine," she said sadly. Angela could feel her heart break; never in all the years she had fantasized about a relationship with Tony had it ended so quickly. She always thought they'd be together forever. But if their relationship couldn't work, it was best they find out now, before they were in too deep. She was kidding herself there, she'd been in too deep with him years ago. Now she had to once again face an empty room. Worse, a bereft room that now contained some of the best memories of her life. Briefly, she considered sleeping on the couch, but dismissed the idea as ludicrous. She'd cried herself to sleep many times before, tonight she'd just cry herself to sleep again. It was a very unwelcome change from the way she had drifted off to sleep these past precious few nights.

They walked upstairs and parted. Angela leaned against her bedroom door as she gripped the door knob, "good night, Tony," she said wistfully.

Against his own door, Tony answered, "good night."

They walked into their respective rooms, both feeling raw and worn-out.

Alone, Tony sat on his bed, confronting some demons. His past gnawed at him no matter how often he tried to ignore it. It wasn't Angela who was foremost in his mind at the moment, it was Marie. His current problem was a direct descendant of painful memories of the past. He'd spent so much time on the road trying to be a good provider; but in the end what did it accomplish? He wasn't there for Marie. He lost her, and all he could see was failure; failure to provide for her, failure to protect her, failure to give her the life she deserved. The pattern was repeating, as once again he saw himself not fulfilling what he considered to be his masculine duty to the one he loved.

Dejected, Angela drifted over to the chair by her vanity. She picked up her new nightgown from where she had flung it, hugged it close and broke down. She was feeling sorry for herself and for all those soft, pretty gowns going to waste. She supposed she could return them, but in her heart she didn't want to. But if she and Tony were already finished keeping them around would only cause her more pain, so much unfulfilled promise. Once again she was being rejected for being a successful woman, and she was being rejected by the man she least expected to reject her. She felt her heart break a little more and cried even harder.

The next morning Angela pushed open the door to the kitchen with no enthusiasm. She noticed Tony by the stove, pouring a cup of coffee, she went to the opposite corner of the room to pull the juice out of the fridge.

"Good morning, Angela," the platitude was mockingly absurd this morning, "did you sleep well?" a question that made him cringe the moment he said it.

"No," she answered flatly, "you?"

There was no use in lying, "no."

"You should have more than juice and coffee for breakfast, we never did have dinner last night." The conversation was stilted and awkward this morning.

"I wasn't hungry, still not...it wasn't until we went upstairs that I realized how early it still was, didn't really matter though, I fell asleep quickly." A lie, she was awake for hours and even after she did manage to fall asleep, staying asleep was impossible.

Tony knew she was lying, but there was no point in calling her on it; that would just give her the chance to call him on his sleeping habits last night, and he wasn't about to revisit that hell.

Angela finished her juice, "I'm going for a run."

This didn't surprise Tony, she was certainly dressed for running; what did surprise him was that there was no, "come with?" Angela left the house with only a wave goodbye. He waved back and watched her shut him out as she closed the door.

Tony finished the breakfast cleanup and wondered what he was going to do with the rest of the day. All his plans for the weekend had been destroyed the second Angela placed his paycheck on the table yesterday morning. Needing to get out of the house himself, he left a note for Angela, saying he'd be back in time for dinner, then he spent the day at the library.

Angela returned home after her run, still frustrated. She read Tony's note and it only added annoyance to the frustration. He was avoiding her. Or had she avoided him first by going out for a run? Either way it left her grasping at tendrils of thoughts that wouldn't form into full ideas. Was she mad at him? Mad at herself? Mad at their situation? Not mad at all, just confused and frightened? She felt as though she was being mentally battered by her own feelings and was unable to come to terms with the upheaval in her life over the past day.

She sighed heavily, there was only one way to deal with this, she needed to get out of the house, away from Tony, away from thinking about Tony. Angela went upstairs, got dressed and went in to work.

Angela amazed herself by actually managing to focus on her work. She reviewed the artwork for the Allen campaign; made some minor changes, then looked over the copy in the Stafford file. She treated herself to a delicious lunch, then went back to work and lost herself in the creativity of her business.

Around 2pm, a noise in the outer office startled her. It couldn't be Tony, could it? It would be just like him to have read her note to him and come down to keep her company. At least it would have been before last night. Angela put her work down and opened her office door. The site that greeted her eyes shocked her more than she had ever been shocked in her life.

"Mother?" she asked incredulously, "what are you doing here?"

Mona was also shocked. Angela, here, at the office? When she should have been at home in bed with Tony? This meant trouble in paradise. Mona was devastated, but had to hide it well. Not only did she have to hide that devastation, but she had to cover the fact that she was here on a Saturday to tidy up some of the loose ends Angela had let slip by in her euphoria. She tried the, 'dammit, I've been caught being responsible approach', "believe it or not, Angela, I have a work ethic."

Angela wasn't sure she believed that at all.

Mona continued, "I thought I would have the place to myself today," realizing too late that she shouldn't have said that, it implied that she expected Angela to be elsewhere today and that certain elsewhere was a topic they were both ignoring, so she quickly added, "what are you doing here?" Not much of an improvement, but it evoked a response from Angela.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I own the place. I played hooky yesterday, remember? Now it's time to make up that work. It still doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"I had some typing to finish."

"Don't lie to me, Mother." Angela was still incredulous her mother was here on a Saturday, usually she couldn't even be bothered to be here Monday through Friday. Had her maternal instinct told her there was something wrong between Tony and herself? No, not even her mother was that good, she'd have no way of knowing that she and Tony had a fight last night, and she was obviously surprised by Angela's presence in the office today.

"It's true."

"Fine." If that was the story her mother was going with, Angela wasn't going to argue. She was tired of arguing with the people she loved the most. She retreated to her office and once again buried herself in her work.

Mona was deeply troubled, she desperately wanted to call Jonathan and Sam to let them know about this most unwanted development, but didn't dare pick up the phone in case Angela overheard the conversation. It was quiet in the office, too quiet. The phone didn't ring, which Mona cursed because it meant Tony wasn't calling. Angela didn't come out of her office all afternoon, which left Mona in a bit of a dilemma. Was now the time to call their bluff? Ask Angela what was bothering her concerning Tony? Every time Mona was close to knocking on Angela's door, she stopped. If Angela wanted to talk with her about this, she would. Obviously, since the door was shut, she didn't. She'd have to leave them alone and hope they worked out whatever had gone wrong, she didn't dare think about what would happen if they didn't solve this crisis.

Mona didn't stay long at the office; partly to give Angela some obviously needed space and partly because she wanted to call Jonathan and Samantha. She yelled through the door that she was leaving, Angela answered her and that was that.

At the library Tony intended to study, he really did. Concentration was a game not granted to him today, though. His scattered thoughts finally came to the conclusion that the choice was simple; either he dealt with this problem, and he realized it was his problem, not Angela's; or he would lose her. It was a bleak choice. For the first time he pictured a future without Angela in it, it looked cold, empty and worst of all, he wasn't even sure where this future was. Back in Brooklyn? Maybe; they were always looking for teachers. He could go home, but wasn't Connecticut his home now? Could he have two homes? "Great," he thought, "two homes, the problems of the rich." He was now back to the money problem. The bottom line was: could he accept that Angela had more money, or could he not?

It was at that moment his studies decided to take center stage, for reasons known only to himself, Hamlet decided to invade his mind and quip, "that is the question."

Tony shrugged away the meddling Dane and gave up on studying for the day. He gathered his books to head home, still trying to come to terms with the state of his current relationship with Angela.

There was no denying it, Angela was going to have to return home at some point today. She threw in the towel at work, gathered some papers into her briefcase and started the long journey out of the City. A journey that provided her with ample time to repeatedly go over last night's discussion. She came to the conclusion that she wasn't giving up Tony without a fight.

Tony arrived home first. He started to make dinner, but then stopped because he didn't know exactly when Angela planned to be home. He wanted to call her, but he didn't want to call her. Would she think he was checking up on her? Being overly intrusive in her life? Angry that such a simple decision had turned into a major event, he went upstairs to change into workout clothes. He indulged in a long work out, then a refreshing shower. Both activities helped clear his mind and he felt better able to handle whatever tonight's conversation with Angela would bring, for he knew that even though they had both retreated to their respective corners today, they still had another round or two to go.

Angela knew Tony was home, his car was here. She went in through the front door, dropped her stuff on the desk and rummaged through the mail; nothing good. Tony didn't come out from the kitchen to greet her, she found she missed that little tradition more than anything. So if he wasn't in the kitchen, where was he? They couldn't very well spend the rest of the night in the house avoiding each other. Well, they could if they really wanted to, but Angela didn't want to. "Tony?" she called out.

"Upstairs, Angela."

That ended that mystery.

"Tony, can I talk with you, please?"

"I'll be right down." He appeared on the landing almost instantly and stopped in his tracks. They looked at each other, both wanting to run to the other, but holding back. Angela broke eye contact, looked to the couch and sighed. Tony walked down the rest of the stairs. The closer he was to her, the more vividly he could see the pain in Angela's eyes.

"Tony, no matter what the outcome, we need to clear the air. I don't like us being evasive with each other, it's not who we are."

"I agree."

She gestured to the couch, they walked over and sat down. Angela didn't stay seated for long, she was too nervous, she was up and pacing. Tony wanted to grasp her hand and bring her focus back to him, but didn't dare touch her.

"So, I guess we have our answer to that longstanding, 'what if?' question," Angela opened, completely turned away from him.

That sounded depressingly final to Tony, "you think it's over, Angela?" he asked very hesitantly.

She shrugged.

"Do you want it to be over?"

She shook her head, clutched her arms around herself and cried.

That was it, Angela could push him away if she wanted, but that wouldn't stop him from making the effort. He walked over to her, put his arms around her and tried to comfort her. She didn't push him away, she put her arms around him and held on for dear life.

"We'll work this out, Angela," he said quietly.

"How?" she asked through a choked sob.

"Some way," he didn't really know the answer, but he knew that she was worth the search to find the answer.

He dried her tears and grabbed a tissue or two. She smiled at him in thanks. They sat back down on the couch, Tony put his arm around her and pulled her close. Angela snuggled in, happy to be so close to him again. They stayed like that for a few minutes, remembering all the reasons they fell in love with each other in the first place.

Angela's memories were mostly happy, but they stopped at one particular moment. She pulled away, not enough to alarm him, but enough to look at him and ask a question that had been at the back of her mind for far too long, "Tony, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Angela, you know you can ask me anything."

"Why...," now that the time had come to ask this question, Angela found her courage failing, but she had to know, "why did you start dating Kathleen?" she blurted out quickly then burrowed her head back onto his shoulder.

That was a question he should have expected, but didn't see coming. "Angela, don't hide from me, please," he gently pulled away so he could look her in the eye. The pain he saw there almost did him in; it sparked a miasma of memories for him; her tears, the way he felt he had betrayed her, the forced smiles. It wasn't easy, but she deserved an answer, "I thought we agreed to wait until I graduated."

She wasn't going to let him get away with that evasiveness, "I didn't know our agreement didn't apply to other people. I waited, you didn't."

Ouch.

She was right, there was no arguing that point.

Angela rose from the couch, turning away to collect her thoughts, "do you think it was easy for me..." even after all this time it still wasn't easy for Angela to think about this. She took a deep breath and started again, "it was a difficult time, Tony; standing by, feeling rejected and hurting. Did you think I would turn you away? Do you know how many times I fantasized about you knocking on my door in the middle of the night?"

A penny dropped for Tony, it suddenly hit him that maybe Angela had intended to knock on his door the day after the Sock Hop for non-business reasons. He was astonished, but tucked that feeling away to focus on working through this mess he had created.

Tony looked down, he wanted to hold Angela, but didn't think that such a gesture would be appreciated at the moment.

"Then I got angry," she dropped.

Tony looked back up, "angry?" he hadn't noticed that, all he'd noticed was her dating as well. He wasn't happy about the situation, but he really couldn't say anything.

"Yes, you were being so hypocritical. Why was it all right for you to date her but not me? If you wanted to hold off on a relationship until after graduation, why was it suddenly all right with Kathleen?" Now Angela was finding her strength.

Tony momentarily looked away, the truth did indeed hurt. "Things were complicated between us, Angela. You were, and still are, my boss."

Angela crossed her arms and turned to him, giving him the 'you know I don't consider that argument valid' look.

Tony got up from the couch and crossed over to her, "Angela, it's easy for you to see that as a non-issue because you are the one whose life is...together. You're established and successful in your career..."

"But Tony, I wouldn't be where I am today without you. You're the one who supported me through my failures; and you know I've had those as well as successes," she shook her head, "I've tried to understand Tony, really I have; but maybe that's just another failure on my part...I just don't."

"You're found, Angela; I was still searching and I needed to be with someone who was at that same place in life. Someone who who wasn't sure where they were going."

"No one is ever sure of where they are going, Tony. Some people may think they are but life has a way of canceling those plans. Just what were you searching for?"

"Me."

"You? Tony, you're you; that thoughtful, caring, strong man you've always been. Who else do you think you are going to find?"

"I don't know, an identity other than 'Sam's Father', I guess. She grew up too quickly."

Angela held her hand out to him, he took it; "Yes, she did, Jonathan too." He nodded in agreement with that.

"But...tonight is not about discussing an empty nest. Angela, I have to know if you forgive me."

"I don't know if I have the right to forgive."

"What do you mean? You are the only one who has that right. I betrayed you." He'd never really forgiven himself for his perceived transgression. It would be up to Angela to grant him absolution.

"Tony, how could you betray me? We had no real commitment to each other. We had a quasi-commitment to maybe someday make a commitment," at least that was the way she rationalized it at the time, in order to block some of the pain. "We always left our relationship so undefined. Maybe it defied definition, I don't know. Was I hurt? Yes. Were there times when I was angry with you? Of course; but to this day I don't know if I was masking the pain by being self-righteous or if you truly did deserve my anger."

"I betrayed you in my heart."

Angela's lip quivered, she scrunched her eyes closed, but it didn't work. Blindly, she reached out to him, he stepped close and held her tightly. She cried unabated for quite some time; it was all too much, too much heartache from the past combined with the emotional roller coaster she'd been on for the past 24 hours. Tony stroked her back as he continually whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Tony grabbed some more tissues from the coffee table, "we're really putting each other through the wringer tonight, aren't we?"

Angela almost managed a laugh at that; she did manage a small smile. He dried her tears, again.

"Tony, there's something you have to know..."

Tony was more than a little frightened, wondering what Angela could possibly tell him.

"Tony, if we work out our issues and re-establish an us...I wouldn't be able to handle it...if...and sort of Kathleen-like situation happened again. I'd be shattered."

"You wouldn't have to worry about that, Angela; and Angela, I'd be shattered too if the situation were reversed." He pulled her back into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"As if," was the unspoken thought in Angela's mind.

There were making progress.

"Tony, can we leave Kathleen in the past? Where she belongs."

"Done."

Tony was not self destructive enough to bring up the fact that according to the state of South Carolina he and Angela had a very defined relationship in the eyes of the law at the time he was dating Kathleen. There was no reason to bring that up at all.

"So where does that leave us, Tony? We still haven't solved our core issue."

"Well, how about we sit down, so we can at least work on this in a little more comfort."

"Good idea." They sat on the couch, Angela once again snuggling up to him. This was indeed much more comfortable.

"So," he said.

"So," she said.

"This isn't accomplishing anything, is it?"

"No, but at least I'm back in your arms, and that's an improvement."

"Yes, it is," he took a deep breath, "Angela, I know I've been a jerk about this money thing."

"I think you're being a little hard on yourself, Tony. Think of it this way; if I hadn't had the money to begin with, then I wouldn't have been able to hire you, and I don't even want to think about what my life would have been like if I had never met you and Sam. It's bleak." She looked up at him and kissed his cheek. He looked at her and kissed her forehead. More progress. "Tony, I don't need you to be a meal ticket. It's time men and women stopped seeing each other that way. You've been my best friend for years. It's true, I don't need you for money. I need you for love; and that's so much more important than money."

For the first time in over 24 hours, they kissed, and that was even better progress.

"However," Angela smiled as they temporarily pulled away from each other, "we still need an answer." She switched to business mode and named some options, "stop working here? Get a job elsewhere and live here? Tony, if I have to choose between you as housekeeper and you as boyfriend, I choose boyfriend; no contest. I can find another housekeeper; but I can't find another you. Of course that poor person would have to put up with you nitpicking everything they do, so I'd have to pay them hazard pay."

"Funny, Angela, very funny," he smiled.

"Tony, we have a business relationship; and we have a personal relationship. It is possible to keep them separate. If I were dating someone from the office..."

"Hey," his eyes narrowed, his jealousy taking over.

Secretly, Angela loved seeing him jealous over any perceived threat, no matter how non-existent.

"Just an example," she soothed his mind, "I don't see any difference between dating someone at the office and dating someone at home."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't."

"It's all a matter of job title. So, how about a new job title," she thought for a moment, "Senior Vice President in Charge of Domestic Affairs."

He raised his eyebrows, "affairs?" Wasn't that what they were trying to avoid?

Angela rolled her eyes, "fine, how about Senior Vice President in Charge of the Domicile."

There was a reason Angela was a successful advertising executive.

He tried out the title, "Senior Vice President in Charge of the Domicile...what, no perks?"

"Oh, there are most definitely perks," she snuggled back in.

"Nice perk." It was a nebulous world they'd just created; one which relied on not looking to deeply at the facts. There was one fact he couldn't ignore though, "Angela, when it comes down to it, you're still the boss."

She pulled away again, because it wasn't important to look him in the eye and say this, "Tony, we transcended the boss and employee relationship years ago. No one's the boss, we're a team; and a damned good one at that."

He wasn't going to argue that point.

They didn't take the time to examine it then; but Angela's statement was the truth of their relationship. It was a truth that resonated in their past, present and would carry through their future as well.

"I'm hungry," Angela suddenly said, "how about a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" She jumped off the couch, heading to the kitchen.

Tony didn't care for her leaving his arms at all, he also didn't care for her choice of meal, "a sandwich? How about a real dinner?"

"Don't want to waste the time," she winked as she left the kitchen door swinging behind her.

Tony was off of that couch and into the kitchen faster than a home run flew out of Shea Stadium.

Angela grabbed the jelly jar from the cabinet and decided it was time to go back to flirting with Tony, "oh Tony," she pouted, "do you want to feel like a man?"

Intrigued, he turned to her, "what did you have in mind?"

She sauntered over to him, effectively trapping him against the counter.

She handed him the object in her hand, "open this jar."

He obliged, the pop of the seal breaking causing Angela to gasp at his manly prowess.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" he asked.

Angela held his gaze until she could no longer contain her laughter. She took the jar out of his hand, placed it on the counter and collapsed into his arms, laughing. He put his arms around her and held her tightly, reveling in the sensation of holding her again.

"You know, Tony, I don't think I'm that hungry after all."

"You're not?"

"No," she purred so coquettishly that Tony had to hold her more tightly for support. Angela definitely liked that.

"What do you want to do?" He was prepared for almost any answer here, but Angela still managed to surprise him.

"Have a fashion show."

"A fashion show? Angela, I don't care...oh."

She looked up at him and grinned.

"I didn't realize you purchased a whole new wardrobe."

"Uh huh, care to see?"

"Well, you seem so intent on showing me, how can I say no?"

She smiled, her eyes sparkled and Tony was entranced. The clasped hands and ran all the way upstairs.

The phone rang as they passed it, they ignored it, which made the three anxious people on the other end of the line very happy.


	11. Pin-Up Girl

Not a real chapter, just a nice interlude. Another piece from Angela's new wardrobe makes an appearance. OK, so I had a poorly cropped image that I was going to post with this chapter; but it won't work for one chapter only. To see the image that launched these thousand or so words just do a search for: Carole Landis peignoir

Just think of Tony coming out of the bathroom and seeing that. That picture combined with the writing of the previous chapter created more chaos in my head that needed to get out. (This is not a continuation of the previous chapter, it's some other night.) Revised because I woke up this morning and my first thought was, "duh! I can't believe I forgot that part."

Pin-Up Girl

Tony finished his evening ablutions and switched the light off on his way out of the bathroom. He knew Angela was waiting for him in the bedroom, but as his focus was toward the bathroom, he didn't see how Angela was waiting until he turned toward the bedroom. When he saw the vision in front of him, his jaw dropped and he was halted in his tracks. For some reason it was suddenly very difficult for him to catch his breath.

Apparently Angela had decided to take another piece of her new wardrobe out to play. He started to wonder just how extensive this new wardrobe was. His mind couldn't come up with a response because it was too rattled by the sight of the bombshell displayed in front of him. For there was Angela, perched on a chair, her bare legs crossed at the ankle and propped up on the vanity. Tony thought there had never been a better use of that vanity.

Tony still couldn't form words, so engrossed was he by the fantasy in front of him. Angela was wearing a soft pink chiffon robe, the skirt of the robe, which normally would have been committing a crime by covering her divine legs, fell prey to gravity's grasp and was exquisitely arranged on the floor. If Tony had been in any sort of state of mind to think, he might have wondered how Angela was able to perfect that effect while sitting in the chair. As it was, he was only able to register appreciation for it, while being completely unable to acknowledge it.

Angela was pretending to intently read the magazine in her hand, but they both knew she wasn't reading at all. Her peripheral vision told her she'd managed to astound Tony and it took every ounce of self control that she had to continue to play it cool and keep the smile that so very much wanted to form off her face.

Angela continued to pretend to be blithely unaware of the reaction she was causing. "Hi, sweetheart," she said, with no sort of seductive inflection whatsoever and not even bothering to look away from her magazine.

"Hi," he answered, still trying to comprehend the enchantress in front of him, "comfy?" Two syllables were the most he could handle at the moment.

"Yes," she answered just as nonchalantly as before. The answer was a little bit of a fib; she was slouched, almost falling off the chair, and the vanity was digging into the back of her heel. However, she was very willing to put up with these minor discomforts for the team.

Tony was still unable to walk. He openly stared at Angela; Angela didn't feel that this was rude at all, in fact she rather enjoyed it. His gaze started at the tips of her toes, took its sweet time traveling all the way up her legs, not stopping until his eyes scrutinized every inch of her. An idle thought barely registered in his mind, "what was Angela wearing underneath that robe? A short nightgown? A sweatshirt? Nothing?" He didn't know, but he would certainly find out.

If Angela had gone through this much trouble he'd be damned if he couldn't pull himself together enough to be worthy of her effort, "I want you right here, right now," he said, his entire being radiating passion.

Angela immediately dropped the pretense and the magazine on the floor. She started to reach her arms out to him.

"Don't move a muscle."

She stopped.

Tony finally regained his motor skills and walked over to her. His hand then made almost the same journey his eyes had; he started at her toes, then drifted his hand up the front of her legs.

Angela gasped. Turnabout was fair play and it was now her turn to have difficulty breathing.

Tony reached the top of her legs and grinned.

Angela anticipated his touch and whimpered, "Tony," she held her arms out to him.

Then he did something Angela did not expect. He returned his hand back to her toes and ever so tantalizingly slowly drifted up the back of her legs; caressing each curve, and making sure to delve into that exquisite line where thigh met thigh.

Angela gripped the sides of the chair.

This time when he reached the top of her thighs, he looked at her. Her eyes were unfocused, her cheeks a delightful shade of pink and her shortness of breath had become even more pronounced. She was gorgeous. He paused for a moment to admire her. Angela looked at him, her eyes silently pleading, "Tony." He smiled a small smile, then once again turned his attention to her toes. Bending over, he touched his lips to her. He proceeded to kiss, lick and nip his way up her legs once again. Angela sighed and almost lost her balance, but gathered every ounce of strength in her to stay exactly as she was.

He made one final journey, letting lips and hands entice together. Slowly, tenderly, reverently he traversed the distance, lavishing attention on each and every inch of her soft legs.

At the end of his sauntering, he turned his attention to her lips. He moved his hand to the back of the chair and leaned in to kiss her, steadying the chair by holding the seat with his other hand. Finally, she took the chance to put her arms around him. She stroked his back as well as she could from her unstable situation on the chair. They kissed for as long as possible before having to acquiesce to the demands their precarious position.

She touched his cheek as he drew just slightly away from her. They looked at each other; their eyes reflecting a combination of love and passion for their beloved.

"I love you," he said, now that he was able to articulate the words.

"I love you, too," she managed to answer, even though she perilously close to being beyond words.

"I meant it Angela, right here, right now."

"Where there's a will, there's a way," she whispered.

And there was.


	12. The Past Speaks

The Past Speaks

October 18, 1991

Another year, another pilgrimage to the empty, cold silence of the cemetery. Another October that Tony made the solitary journey to Marie's grave. He'd long ago stopped dragging Samantha to the cemetery with him; the anniversary of Marie's death had become a day he couldn't share with anyone anymore, it was a long held pain, a pain not as deep this year as it had been in years past, but still; he felt this was a trip he felt compelled to make alone. A selfish choice, perhaps, but he justified it by declaring to himself that he had put Sam through enough cemetery visits when she was a child. He had to then, it was the only way he knew how to cope. Every Sunday after Mass they'd travel on their pilgrimage; hand in hand they'd walk to Marie's grave. They took turns placing a white rose on her grave, one week Tony, the next Sam; sometimes they'd place it together. Then they'd stand there with their arms around each other, not saying a word. Every week.

Sometimes Mrs. Rossini would go with them, sometimes not. If Mrs. Rossini didn't accompany them, they were sure to see Carmelina at the cemetery. No matter the weather, week after week, without fail, she was there. Long widowed, Carmelina had been making her own pilgrimage for so many decades that most members of the parish couldn't remember a time when she didn't visit the cemetery. She was considered to be the ambassador of the Church, a fixture in the community; never more than five feet tall and always dressed in head to toe black, complete with veiled hat. She was a holdover from another era; attending Mass every day, Holy Day of Obligation or not. Every wedding, christening and funeral was also blessed by her presence. Tony always admired her devotion and compassion. Every week, as they were leaving the cemetery Carmelina gave a peppermint to Samantha. Tony always saw her eyes well up, but whether it was for Sam's loss or her own long buried infant daughter he would never dream of asking.

Carmelina was a memory now, also; long reunited with her husband and infant daughter. Sam was a young woman; dynamic, enthusiastic, Tony felt she should be out enjoying life, not spending time here in the past. Angela always offered to come with him, but he declined her company as well and she understood without him having to give any further explanation. She supported him in any way she could on this day. Tony knew that when he got home, Angela would be ready with the car keys and that she would take the whole family out to dinner, just as she had every year since he and Samantha had moved to Connecticut. They never spoke of this ritual, words weren't needed; Tony was grateful for Angela's clandestine support and she only had to look in his eyes to see his gratitude.

The wind was bitter this year, fall was definitely making its presence known. He procrastinated a bit as he walked to the grave, watching the leaves fall off the trees. He hated autumn; everything dying, decaying, shriveling; the pristine white gardenias he carried for Marie didn't belong amongst the spotted browns, oranges and yellows surrounding him. Sighing, he took another step toward the headstone, the leaves crunched under his feet, once again pointing out the dichotomy of death with their harsh crackle. This was more difficult this year, and he couldn't help but feel that it was because he was betraying Marie. His mind told him it wasn't a true betrayal. Marie had been dead for thirteen years now. Thirteen years. He wondered where the time went. How could it possibly be that it had been so long, yet it seemed like only yesterday since Marie had died?

He pondered this as he looked at the dates of Marie's short life etched into the stone. Normally he would place the flowers by her name, but this year he was reluctant to part with them. It was as if by setting them down he was conceding that Marie was a part of his past he would no longer revisit. Rationally he knew that Marie had been relegated to his past for some time and that there should be no trauma attached to placing a bunch of Marie's favorite flowers on her grave; it was just that this year felt different. There'd been a change and he had to acknowledge that his heart had moved on. This still surprised him sometimes. When Marie died he thought for certain he would spend the rest of his life alone, Marie had held his heart in a way he thought no one else could and he was grateful for the time they spent together and confident that he would live on those memories for the rest of his life.

The scent of the gardenias brought him back to reality. Once again he noted that the flowers that so suited Marie were so out of place in the harshness of the grey October skies. They were ethereal, she was ethereal. He grasped a memory of Marie leaning over a gardenia to drink in its scent on a long ago visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she'd closed her eyes in the joy of the moment, then smiled at him as she looked up from the flower and noticed the way he was looking at her. He was awed by her, overcome that she had chosen him. He closed his eyes and clutched the flowers more tightly; she'd been so young, so vibrant, with so much to live for, he could never reconcile the joy of the woman she was with the bleakness of the rows of headstones that now surrounded her.

He tried to keep other memories from consuming him, but knew that this was part of the ritual and he would have to relive it all as part of the process. There he was watching her life being emaciated by the very body that had housed her spirit and vitality for such a very short time. The terror he felt at the time resurfaced as he remembered how adrift he was. Accepting her condition had been difficult enough, caring for her as the disease progressed proved to be almost too much to bear at times. The loss of control, his ineffectiveness against a more powerful force angered him, but also left him helpless. Complete denial was the only way he could cope with thoughts of life without Marie; any time such a thought pushed its way into his mind, he pushed it right back out again, it was the only weapon he had to fight the situation.

Toward the end, when she was confined to bed, he'd always tried to put up a brave front for her, tried to make her laugh through the pain. He never knew if he eased her burden at all, she'd grown so weak, sometimes all she could do was look at him; couldn't lift her hand to touch his, couldn't smile. He thought he saw gratitude in her eyes, but he could never be sure. When she lapsed into unconsciousness, he held her hand, caressed her skeletal fingers with his thumb and sang the "Ave Maria" to her repeatedly, hoping this would ease her soul in death as it had so often in life.

He reflected bitterly that they had had 'til death did them part'; it was just too short a 'til'. When he took that vow, he had no idea how short their happily ever after would be.

Those dark, suffocating days when he wasn't sure how he was going to hold himself together, let alone care for a little girl who had lost her mother, threatened to consume him again. He'd questioned his ability to raise her alone, how could he possibly be there for her when he was just barely holding himself together? The opposite of his worries happened, Marie's death birthed his over-protectiveness with Sam. Tony's guilt manifested in a vow he didn't even know he'd made; to be there for Sam whenever she did; or didn't, need him.

His father had offered to move in, but Tony declined as he felt that he had already lived through that situation once and didn't want to repeat it; besides his father was physically close enough to them that visits were constant, it wasn't as if his father was an ocean away. Mrs. Rossini had offered to take care of Samantha, give him a chance to grieve privately. He'd considered the idea in a moment of desperation, but ultimately decided he couldn't lose Sam, even if only temporarily. Instinctively he knew they needed each other now more than ever; and a flickering glimpse of pride wanted to prove to his father-in-law that even if he had failed as a husband to take good care of his daughter, he would not fail as a father to take care of his granddaughter. Tony was by no means a failure as a husband, there was nothing he could have done to eradicate the ravage of the cancer, but that didn't mean he didn't blame himself.

For so long he'd lived in a daze, wondering if their lives would ever be normal again. He found out the proverbial 'knife through the heart' pain wasn't just a cliché, it was very real; and it was a pain he hoped never to experience again. Sometimes his own heart was so heavy, he wasn't sure he could be strong enough to help his little girl with her own grief. Looking back on it all he remembered the times when Samantha had trouble falling asleep, or woke up crying. He'd held her tightly and rocked her until she calmed, needing to know she was nearby just as much as she needed to know he was nearby. At some of those moments he felt Marie's presence enveloping both of them, sending them her love from beyond the grave. It was a feeling he'd never told anyone about; not Sam, not Angela; it was calm, comforting and he was afraid that if he ever told anyone about it they would scoff at him and he would lose a memory that was among his most precious.

Angela. He smiled a small smile, she was so aptly named. In those hellish months after Marie's death when he was just trying to get through another day he couldn't possibly foresee a future in which an angel would grace both their lives. Not only had she given them the opportunity to build new lives, her very presence completed the healing of the wounds they both tried so hard ignore. Angela loved Sam as her own; staunchly, unconditionally, and without end. Tony loved to watch them together, he loved seeing Sam's eyes sparkle in feminine collusion with both Angela and Mona. He thanked God for both of them, he didn't want to think of where he and Sam would be without them.

Before Angela, he hadn't given much thought to another woman in his life, certainly there were always options available, but none that he pursued with any real passion. He gave a derisive huff as he remembered that after Marie's death he'd been surprised at the number of women constantly dropping by with a home cooked dinner, doting on Samantha, lending a sympathetic ear and implied offers of comfort to him. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised, and been flattered by all the attention instead, but as a grieving widower with a grieving daughter he felt more overwhelmed than flattered. He started to feel like the lamb being led to the slaughter.

Samantha deserved better than a rotating cast of women in her life, she needed stability. It wasn't easy for him to give up being waited on hand and foot, but he didn't want to be weak and fall into the trap of marrying again just for the sake of having a woman around the house. To that end he thanked the women for all their help, but made it clear that he and Samantha needed time to themselves. Then he asked Mrs. Rossini to help him to further develop his skills in the kitchen. Cooking for his daughter gave Tony back some of his power, he could control this one aspect of their lives and he found that not only did he enjoy cooking, it gave him the confidence that they would somehow get through this. In later years he mused that this one small act had an enormous impact on his life.

The wind picked up again, sending more leaves to their fated end on the ground. A slight chill ran through Tony, he couldn't delay the inevitable anymore, so he bent down and finally placed the flowers on Marie's grave.

"One more year, Marie."

Silence answered him, but the wind calmed and he felt a connection he hadn't felt since those years long ago when he felt Marie's comforting presence. He felt the serenity, the warmth, but mostly the unconditional love; it surrounded him and took away his pain.

"Anthony," a tender voice called from behind him. Marie, it was definitely Marie, she was the only person who ever called him Anthony. He didn't dare turn around for fear that he'd just been hearing things and she wasn't really there, and the greater fear that she was indeed there.

"Anthony," he heard again, this time a little closer. He closed his eyes, and fell to one knee, bowing his head in his hand.

"It's time to stop torturing yourself. You weren't meant to be alone, ever. Take the gifts of life that are yours to enjoy. There is so much more love waiting for you. There could be dreams come true for you that you never even knew you had."

He couldn't answer, he couldn't even comprehend that this was happening.

"I'm so proud of you and all you've accomplished. You're a wonderful father, I always knew you would be. Samantha has become everything we dreamed for her all those years ago and that is because of you and all that you've done for her."

Tony's heart was too full to speak, he couldn't even manage to say that he'd had some help there, but he felt Marie knew that without him having to say anything.

"I know you have visited every year; I've been waiting for this day, the time you would come to say goodbye. Anthony, we parted a long time ago. It's time for both of us to move on. Let me go, and let yourself love again with that precious heart of yours that is a gift to any woman lucky enough to capture it," she kissed him on the cheek; he felt the warmth and did his best to dismiss it as a sunbeam hitting him.

"Anthony; thank you for what we had, and for remembering me. Goodbye."

The warmth disappeared, leaving Tony to confront the cool October temperature. He took a couple of very deep breaths wondering if he had imagined what just happened. He was unsteady as he rose from the ground, he continued to stare at the gravestone for a long time as he tried to sort out his troubled mind. Could Marie have visited him? How? Why now? At least the answer to that question was obvious. His head was spinning with a strange combination of sadness and relief; sadness that this part of his life was over, but relief that it had ended with so much hope for the future. After a few more calming breaths he turned around; he knew she wouldn't be there, if indeed she had ever been, but he needed to see where she was. After a few more moments he touched his cheek, then touched his fingertips to his lips, he looked up to the sky and waved as he whispered, "goodbye."

In years past he would take a moment or two to visit his father's grave, and Carmelina's, but he didn't dare this year; he was too overwhelmed and was a little worried he'd get a lecture from his father as well, he needed to be among the living again.

Tony showed up on Mrs. Rossini's doorstep, another part of the yearly ritual, he knew she'd have stuffed artichokes waiting for him. She opened the door at his knock and ushered him to the table which was laden with much more than stuffed artichokes. She pushed him down into a chair, telling him to eat. He hesitated, causing her to wonder what was wrong. Well, wonder what was wrong outside of the usual angst of the day. She glared at him, silently asking for an explanation. Tony didn't know where to begin. There was no way he was going to mention what did or didn't happen at the cemetery and he couldn't come up with anything else to explain his mood. So he did the only thing he could think of to do, he stalled.

"The stuffed artichokes look delicious, Mrs. Rossini," he said as he reached for one. She wasn't falling for that, she grabbed his hand and pulled it away from the food. He looked up, trying his best, 'I'm completely innocent' look on her. She wasn't falling for that either. She let go of his hand and sat down next to him. He sighed, then was quiet for a long time as he tried to unscramble his thoughts and figure out a way to convey them to her.

"It was more difficult this year." Simple, true; but in no way a statement that was going to get Mrs. Rossini to drop the subject.

"Why?" she pressured.

He shrugged, he really didn't want to discuss this with her, but she knew where too many of the demons lurked and he knew he wasn't getting out of here without confronting them. It was a fine line to walk, how to discuss the places Marie and Angela held in his heart without dropping the secret he and Angela had been keeping for the past month or so. Then he said something that surprised even him, "I didn't miss her as much this year."

Mrs. Rossini said nothing in response.

"I should miss her more than I do, it isn't fair to her."

"Tony, you can't go your whole life with your heart in a grave, it's not healthy. You loved Marie, you mourned her; stop beating yourself up for being alive. You did everything you could for Marie. Tragedies happen in life; you pick up the pieces and move on. You can't let them define you for the rest of your life, you know that."

"You make it sound so clinical."

"I'm trying to knock some sense into you."

"I thought Marie and I would be together forever...when she died...," he didn't really know how to continue, any further discussion could reveal his feelings for Angela.

"You thought you would never love anyone like that again."

Tony looked at Mrs. Rossini, surprised that she could so precisely hone in on his dilemma. She wasn't letting him off the hook, "do you think your feelings for Angela are a secret?"

Tony desperately hoped she was talking in a general sense, there was no way she could know they had started dating, could she?

Evasion was always worth a try, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Worth a try perhaps, but useless against such a formidable opponent, "don't pull that with me, Anthony Morton Micelli," he winced at the Full Name Use. "You. Angela. Go home, tell her you love her," he started to protest, but Mrs. Rossini gave him a look that would freeze even the Pope in his tracks, which gave Tony the out he was looking for.

"Even if I did love Angela, and I am not saying that I do..." Mrs. Rossini met that remark with an eye roll that could have been seen on Mars, Tony continued, "we're separated by religion, she's not Catholic."

She wasn't buying this either, smacking him on the side of his head she said, "stunod! God put us on this earth to love and be loved; not to be driven apart by religion, but united by it. Don't be angry with yourself for falling in love again. It's a gift. Loving Angela doesn't mean you loved Marie any less. You're a very lucky man, Tony, to have captured two such beautiful hearts from two very different, but both very strong women."

Tony looked as though he was going to contradict this, but Mrs. Rossini didn't give him a chance, she steamrolled on, "enjoy what you have Anthony", here she lost Tony's attention for a moment as he was shocked by being called Anthony by two people in one day, but she drew his attention back to her words, "you know how quickly it can be taken away. You and Angela have waited long enough. Don't let her down now, Tony, she's been very patient with you. Don't throw away a chance at present happiness by clinging to the past."

It was not lost on Tony that he was being given essentially the same message twice in a short span of time. Only this time it was spoken by an embodied soul who had the power to cut him off from stuffed artichokes if she ever got to the point of losing patience with him, and she was very close to that point. He got the message; it was time to go home to Connecticut. The past was in the past and it was time to close that chapter of his life. He didn't need any more slaps on the head to bring the point home; he now felt free to enjoy his relationship with Angela without guilt. He looked at Mrs. Rossini with what he hoped was a thoughtful expression on his face, it wasn't easy pretending that he and Angela were still just friends. Then the Catholic guilt started to kick in, he had been lying to a woman who had done nothing but treat him as a son for years, she deserved better, but he and Angela weren't ready to share their relationship yet. Tony pushed away from the table, trying to convey himself as a man with a lot to think about. He kissed Mrs. Rossini goodbye and started to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" stopped his exit. "I didn't make all this food for me."

"Sorry, Mrs. Rossini, guess my mind wandered."

"It's been wandering for some time; if you aren't going to eat here, at least let me pack it up for you."

"I'll pack it up, it's the least I can do."

Knowing that it was useless to argue with Tony on this; there was no keeping that man out of the kitchen anymore, she instead took the time to observe his behavior closely. After he left, Mrs. Rossini's first action was the pick up the phone and impart to Samantha everything that had happened this afternoon in as much detail as she could. Samantha dutifully noted all of it, sharing the information with Mona and Jonathan when they convened a meeting of their secret society before dinner. Jonathan didn't see much progress in the report, but Mona read through the lines. She smiled wickedly and knew that even though tonight would not be appropriate, soon; hopefully very soon, they'd pull the rug out from underneath Tony and Angela and the game they were playing with the rest of the family.


	13. A Holiday In November

Sorry for the delay everyone, hope the long chapter makes up for it.

If Tony is going overboard, let it be for a good reason.

A Holiday in November

It had been raining steadily for the whole train ride home; a cold, dark, drizzly November rain. Angela felt the chill of the weather and tried to ward off the outer gloominess by imagining her perfect evening, a snug Friday night at home curled up by the fire with Tony and a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream, although it could not be said with any certainty whether she was more looking forward to Tony, the chocolate or the whipped cream. Or perhaps it was a combination of all of the above.

Jonathan was away for the weekend on a student government retreat, mother had stayed in Manhattan for a date, and knowing her mother as she did, Angela felt safe that her mother would not be home tonight, or at any time before the Sunday night family dinner. A surprise visit from Samantha might happen, but with the weather being what it was tonight; it didn't seem likely that Sam would venture out. Angela was satisfied that any impediments to her plans for the evening were taken care of and smiled at the thought of being alone in the house with Tony. So lost was she in her daydream that she almost missed her stop.

Silently laughing at herself, Angela managed to pull herself together to depart the train. She rued Tony's early class schedule, if there was any day she needed him to drop her off at the station and pick her up, it was today. So eager was she to see him, she hoped beyond hope that he had taken a cab to the station and was going to surprise her, she scanned the lobby, but he was nowhere to be seen. She sighed; it had been an overly romantic thought anyway. Angela pulled her coat closer together and battled the elements on the way to the car, she even managed to put Tony out of her mind long enough to drive home safely.

Pulling the car into the driveway, Angela noticed the house was dark. She was disappointed and frustrated. Tony hadn't told her he wouldn't be home when she arrived and she felt all the anticipation of a romantic evening evaporating from her being. This evening had suddenly turned from fun to loneliness. No Tony. No romance. And now she was starting to become angry with him because even though he didn't know it, he'd ruined her plans for the evening. Why didn't he tell her he wouldn't be home? It wasn't like him at all. Resigned to her dull fate, Angela decided she might as well go in and change into flannel pajamas, at least those would keep her warm.

Angela went to the front door to check the mail box, but found that there was no mail. She mentally noted that this was odd because no one had been around today to pick up the mail. She let the mystery slide however as she was too cold and vexed to really care.

Her mood now one of angry discontent, Angela opened the front door expecting to see an empty living room. What she saw instead made her stop in her tracks. Her mood instantly transformed from anger to joy.

"Tony…" she said in disbelief.

"Hi Angela," he answered.

Angela was still in a state of shock, she finally remembered to shut the door behind her, but she was too overwhelmed by what she saw before her to even set down her briefcase. Tony had transformed the living room into their own very private dining room. The room looked dark from the outside because it was lit by only fire and candlelight. Soft music played in the background. The small table was set up by the fireplace, a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket next to it. This was a much better chill than the chill in the weather. A bouquet of pink roses was carefully placed on the coffee table and even the worst the weather had to dish out couldn't dull her senses enough to enjoy the delicious aroma of linguine alle vongole wafting through the house.

This was all Angela could comprehend in a quick glance around the room because her attention was more focused on Tony. He stood near the center of the room, impeccably dressed in a sharp suit and tie, holding one pink rose. If it had been within her power to run and throw her arms around him she would have; but she was too surprised to even consider it. And to think she had just been angry with him for deserting her tonight.

Tony was very pleased by her response, it wasn't often he was able to render her speechless, so he allowed himself to revel in his triumph for a moment before taking the romance up another notch by saying, "happy Valentine's Day, Angela."

Angela was a little perplexed, "Valentine's Day? In November?"

"Anyone can do Valentine's Day in February," he started walking toward her, "I thought that since we've done our best to ignore the day over the years; now that we don't have to ignore it, why wait until February?"

She liked the way he thought, a smile formed as she said, "I can't argue with that reasoning."

"Good," he said as he took her briefcase out of her clutched hands and presented her with the rose he had been carrying. He set the case on the desk and there it remained, forgotten, for the rest of the weekend.

Angela clasped the rose, smelled it, and looked up at him with a face so effused with love that Tony felt like the luckiest man on the planet. "Happy Valentine's Day, Tony," she whispered as she leaned in to give him a very warm, sweet and lingering kiss. After they finally managed to call a temporary halt to the kissing, Angela put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder, quite content to stay there for an eternity if need be. Tony held her close and quietly reflected that the night had started off well, he hoped the rest of the evening would not be a disappointment.

After some time standing there lost in each other's arms, Angela finally realized she was still wearing her damp work clothes. She pulled away from her beloved and bemoaned her sorry state, "I'm a bedraggled mess."

"You look beautiful," he answered.

She kissed him quickly then said, "thank you, but I'm going to change into something a little drier and more suited to the holiday. You've obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this evening and I don't want to spoil it by remaining in damp workday clothes. I won't be long." And with that she gave him one more quick kiss, then practically ran upstairs to change into something much more comfortable.

Tony watched Angela flit upstairs, happy that not only had he managed to surprise her, but also that she was so pleased by the surprise. He'd been planning this evening on the sly, always a little worried that he would slip up and give away the secret; or worse that she would come up with some other idea for tonight and he would have to either postpone dinner or find some way to scuttle Angela's plans. He was relieved that so far everything was going according to his plan; even better than planned actually since Angela's reaction was more than he had hoped for.

Tony went to the kitchen to check on dinner. Upstairs, Angela rummaged through her closet trying to find the perfect complement to Tony's attire. She pulled out dress after dress rejecting each one as being either too formal or frumpy or just not the look she wanted to project tonight. Frustrated at taking so long for such a simple decision, then chastising herself for calling it a simple decision, it was anything but, the dress had to be just right; Angela finally remembered a new outfit in the corner of her closet. She dared herself to wear it. She pulled the dress out of the closet, the hem was a lot higher on the skirt than her usual length, this one was above the knee; but she had purchased it with just such an evening in mind. She just didn't think she'd actually have the opportunity or the nerve to wear it.

Angela held the dress up to her in front of a mirror. Yes, this was what she was looking for, a red dress, if Tony was celebrating Valentine's Day in November she wanted to wear the appropriate color. The neckline was off the shoulders, the bodice tapered in at the waist, a chiffon skirt flared out providing softness. It was a fun and flirty dress that was an expression of their evolving relationship. Tony had always been the one to find the balance between the woman who buried her heart in her work and the woman whose spirit overtook her every so often threatening to ruin all that she worked so hard to build and she loved him for it; dearly.

She changed as quickly as she could and impatiently rushed back downstairs until she saw a bemused look on Tony's face. She stopped a couple of steps from the bottom and invoked a more decorous attitude, pretending she hadn't been in a hurry to get back downstairs at all. She looked at Tony, daring him to comment, he did consider it for a moment or two as he was amusingly gratified by her zeal, but decided against it as he was too taken with her new outfit to bother.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked at her almost voraciously and she blushed.

"Whoa, Angela, new outfit? You look gorgeous." He definitely appreciated the red, in fact he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Yes...thank you," she answered a little nervously. Even though the new dimensions of their relationship were working well, she was still a little a shy under the full force of his admiring gaze. There was never any doubt he would greatly approve of any skirt that showed off her legs (for his always appreciative eyes only), she was still just a little in awe of this new world they were creating. Every day brought them chances to revel in this new bliss, Angela found the freedom to express her heart liberating.

The fact that they could actually say "I love you" to each other without having to pretend to ignore it still scared Angela. She knew it was a silly fear, but it did have a tendency to intrude on her thoughts and make her pull away. Most of the time she felt giddy, like a schoolgirl lost in a romantic haze, she hoped the feeling would never go away; this blush of new romance. Continuing to keep their relationship a secret elevated the romance for Angela; living in their own private fantasy made her heart skip a beat every time she thought about it, this was the romance she'd dreamed about for so very long and she vowed not to let Tony down, no matter how nervous she was.

Tony noticed Angela blush and turn away, it was a behavior he'd taken note of before, but she hadn't shared the reason for her hesitancy yet and he knew that trying to pry an answer out of her when she wasn't ready to talk was not going to work; so he held out his arm to escort her to the table. She smiled at him, and took his arm. Her smile made him smile and they stood still for a moment just basking in the glow of each other's eyes.

A rude buzzer from the kitchen interrupted their reverie; Angela almost jumped a mile at the sudden noise. Tony squeezed her arm and walked her to her chair, then hurried to the kitchen to retrieve the rest of dinner. Angela, alone for a moment, gazed around the living room, still amazed they were celebrating Valentine's Day in November. This made her smile even more; it's entirely possible she even sighed. Repeatedly.

Tony promptly returned from the kitchen and placed the linguine on the table, joining the bread and salad already there.

Angela became aware of Nat King Cole singing softly, "…if there is some other way to prove that I love you, I swear I don't know how. You'll never know if you don't know now…"

Starry-eyed, Angela drank in the atmosphere, Tony was making dreams come true tonight that she never even knew she had, "I still can't believe you did all this," she said, her voice full of wonder and love.

"All what?" he asked as he popped the champagne. "It's just dinner, we have dinner every night."

"Don't try to be modest, it doesn't suit you. How long have you been planning this?"

"A few weeks," he answered as he poured the champagne.

Angela gazed at him as he sat down; tonight was exceeding any romantic expectation she had ever had and she was thrilled beyond belief by his thoughtfulness.

Tony was glad that she was going along with the conceit of the evening. Although he was fairly certain she wouldn't mind celebrating Valentine's Day on any day of the year, there was a certain folly to the evening that she could scoffed at. Remote as the chance was that such a romantic as Angela would reject this out of season play, the chance itself was still there. He was relieved she had bought into the evening wholeheartedly.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Angela," Tony said holding his glass out to her.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tony," she answered, clinking her glass to his, her eyes never leaving his for a moment.

He was too far away. Angela wondered if there was some way to sit in his lap during dinner instead of all the way on the other side of the table, which felt as wide as the Pacific Ocean right now. Yes, they could have a very nice dinner all cuddled up together in one chair, feeding each other bits of linguine. Maybe they could even take a cue from an old Disney movie and each start eating from an opposite end and meet in the middle. Angela giggled at her silliness.

"Private joke, Angela?"

She blushed, "no, I was just thinking about a Disney movie, the one about the dogs."

"101 Dalmatians?"

It was a good guess by Tony, and it made Angela smile at a cherished memory, but she had to reply, "no, the other one."

"The Ugly Dachshund?"

"No, the other other one; the romantic one with the spaghetti."

"Lady and the Tramp?"

"Yes, that one."

"You're thinking about a Disney movie now?"

"Spaghetti," she answered simply and that was enough for Tony to understand what made her laugh.

"Works fine in an animated movie, but would probably be messy in real life."

"Agreed," Angela laughed again, but didn't say anything more; in fact she was lost in thought.

"Angela?" Tony prompted.

"Sorry, I was just thinking how well that movie captured life."

"Aunt comes for a visit and disrupts the whole household with her pets?"

Angela smiled at his joke, her eyes laughing, "No, I mean the give and take between Lady and her Tramp. She's sheltered and repressed and he's lived by his wits, taking what life throws his way and making the best of it. He shows Little Miss Obedient Prim and Proper there's more to life than living up to someone else's expectations. She's charmed, but too scared to admit it, fearing the consequences of truly being herself, of throwing herself into life..." She stopped, the parallels were hitting a little too closely.

"So, you're saying I'm a Tramp?" Tony joked, trying to draw her back from her retreat.

"Of course not."

"A Lady, then?"

"Tony!"

He smiled, his eyes playful; she laughed at his teasing.

"Tramp does have excellent taste in food, I'll give him that."

Angela smiled, "He certainly knows how to treat a lady." She touched her champagne glass to his before taking another sip.

Tony turned serious, "don't discount what she does for him,"

"What do you mean?"

"If it weren't for a Lady, he would still be searching. She gave him love and a home where they lived happily ever after."

They looked at each other, wondering if happily ever after existed in a world outside of a Disney movie; but each hoping that it did.

"I think she got the better part of that deal," Angela said.

"I'd disagree with that."

They were quiet for a few moments, both suddenly a little shy. Tony was nervous, but hiding it well. Angela silently wondered if perhaps they should try that spaghetti, well, in this case, linguine, maneuver, then she blushed at the thought and turned away.

"Tony, I can't believe we are sitting here on Valentine's Day discussing an old Disney movie."

"'Beauty and the Beast' opens next week, we can go see that and discuss a new Disney movie."

She laughed softly, "fine," trust Tony to find the humor by not commenting on Disney movies in general, only in old vs. new. There was certainly no one else she'd rather see a movie with; old, new, Disney or not.

"But if you draw any comparisons between me and a beast the date is off."

Angela laughed wholeheartedly.

"I will, however, draw a comparison and say you are my beauty today and every day."

Touched, Angela could no longer tolerate the distance between them. She rose and before Tony even had a chance to react she had settled herself in his lap and was kissing him rather intensely.

When she finally pulled away, she closed her eyes and touched her forehead to his, "Tony," she whispered, "I'm not very hungry, can we skip dinner?"

Much as the idea intrigued him, he had more planned for the night, not that his plans didn't include 'skipping dinner', it was just that that particular activity was planned for later in the evening. He swallowed, this was not going to be easy, "Angela, honey; wonderful as that…" what was he saying, he'd lost his train of thought as Angela was dragging a finger across his chin. He clasped her hand and kissed her palm, he had to retain some sort of control, and get her off his lap; fast. So he stood up, she protested as he placed her feet on the floor and walked her back to her own chair.

"Patience, Angela."

"Patient?" she pouted, "I was nothing but patient for years. You can't blame a girl for…wanting to make up for lost time."

No, no he couldn't, and she almost succeeded in getting him to forgo dinner and change his plans for the evening. Only the thought of looking back on this night brought him back from the brink. He wanted them to have the memory of a full evening, not one overtaken by passion. There were always other nights with the potential of being overtaken by passion; tonight had a specific itinerary. He sat back down in his own chair, alone, and tried to catch his breath.

Angela was gratified that she had decidedly unnerved him. Temporarily contented, Angela concluded that Tony had an agenda for tonight and that even though throwing those plans out the window would be fun, it was also be a little rude to Tony for her to toss aside everything he'd worked for. And to waste linguine alle vongole would be a crime, so she decided to let him off the hook, "Tony, I have to admit that when I pulled into the driveway I was angry with you," she said, then took a bite of salad.

He was surprised, "why?" He couldn't think of anything he'd done or worse, hadn't done, that would irritate her.

"All the way home on the train I was envisioning a nice quiet evening with you; but when I finally arrived home, you didn't seem to be here. I thought you were out somewhere and hadn't bothered to tell me. I was annoyed."

"Angela, you know me better than that."

"I know, that's part of why I was so disappointed, but then I came inside," she smiled.

"You got over your anger pretty quickly."

"You could say that, yes."

The phone rang and Angela almost jumped out of her chair; Tony was amused, she'd obviously forgotten that Jonathan was scheduled to call in tonight. Yet another reason for them not to have abandoned his plans. The phone rang again and Angela cleared her head, "you'd better turn down the music, I don't want Jonathan to hear it." Tony set to his task as Angela went to answer the phone.

"You'd better change the tone in your voice, switch over to 'Mom'," Tony prompted.

"Right," she answered, "mom, mom; have to be mom now," she repeated as she picked up the phone.

"Hi Jonathan," she said a little too brightly. They chatted for a few minutes, Angela tried to pay attention to what her son was saying, but even if he had told her a herd of pink elephants had tramped through the convention center carrying flamingos on their backs it wouldn't have registered more than a 'that's nice' response from her. She was too lost in thoughts of Tony and whatever the rest of his plans for this evening were. In fact, her attention was caught by something on the coffee table she hadn't noticed before. Next to vase of roses was a heart-shaped box. Oh, that was it, she had to end this phone call with her son; she loved the kid, but at the moment she belonged completely to Tony and Valentine's Day…in November.

"That sounds great, Jonathan, call me tomorrow, after your activities…late in the day. Bye," and with that less than maternal farewell she placed the phone receiver back in the cradle, she briefly considered taking the phone off the hook but quickly rejected the idea because if Sam tried to call and got no answer, she'd definitely come over, no matter what the weather; and Angela wanted to avoid any well-meaning family member checking in tonight.

On the other end of the line, Jonathan rolled his eyes at his mother's farewell. Her relationship with Tony was resulting in unexpected freedom for him. There were times when it seemed both of them completely forgot there were three other people in the family. He was starting to see why his mom and Tony decided to stay apart for so long; they'd never have been able to uphold their parental responsibilities if they had succumbed to their passion years ago. He shook his head and smiled at his lovestruck mother, then called Samantha.

Tony was amused by Angela's phone manner, but decided it best not to comment; instead he turned the music back up, hoping it would bring Angela back to the dinner table. It didn't; her gaze was still transfixed on the coffee table. He walked over to her, waving his hand in front of her face and following her line of vision. The chocolates; of course, he'd planned those for part of dessert, but it looked like they'd soon become an appetizer.

"Tony, there's a heart-shaped box on the table."

She was stating the obvious, but Tony went along with it, "yes, yes there is."

"Is it just for Valentine's show? Or is there something inside it? And where did you find a heart-shaped box in November in the first place?"

"It's not just for show. There's definitely something inside it. And to answer your third question,'Chocolat, Chocolat, rien mais Chocolat'." A chocolate shop more commonly known as 'CCC', and even more colloquially known around the house as 'Angela's Second Home'. She loved the place so much she'd often considered offering to do their advertising for free, or in her better fantasies, on a barter basis.

Angela gripped the table, he hadn't, had he? He had, she knew it; there could be nothing else in that box other than champagne truffles. How did he possibly expect her to keep her hands off of him for however long he expected her to keep her hands off him tonight when he'd done everything he possibly could do to make sure she didn't keep her hands off him? This was becoming somewhat aggravating; she was beyond seduced already and now he'd gone and thrown truffles into the mix, too? She really couldn't think straight.

"I was saving them for dessert." He was enjoying Angela's beguiled and tantalized state of mind very much.

"I was hoping for brownies for dessert," she said, a little disappointed, nothing took the edge off a rough day like Tony's brownies, and as much as she loved any and all chocolate from 'CCC', it could never compare to any of Tony's home-baked confections.

"There are brownies," he said deceptively simply. He knew darned well that Angela and brownies were a combination to be reckoned with.

Angela's mind wandered somewhere far, far away from any sort of rational thought. She wondered if there happened to be any batter left. Brownie batter was a long-standing fantasy of hers concerning Tony, mostly licking it off Tony….oh, best to drag herself away from those thoughts, no matter how much she didn't want to. Then she reconsidered, why should she tear herself away from thoughts of Tony and brownie batter? Why couldn't she make that fantasy come true tonight? First, she'd have to broach the subject with him, certainly they were close, but the physical aspect of their relationship was still so new she hadn't yet garnered the courage to bring this up to him.

"…all year 'round, just have to ask."

That was Tony. He said something; Angela just wasn't sure what, only the very end of what he'd just said managed to make its way through her batter addled brain. Tony noticed Angela was lost in her own world and was worried that he was losing her to whatever she was thinking about, so, ironically, he was trying to bring her back around to him. If only he'd known her thoughts were very much on him.

"I'm sorry, what did you say, Tony?" Angela managed to shake off the chocolate induced brain fog to focus her attention back on Tony, conveniently ignoring that her thoughts had never really left Tony.

"I said," he answered starting to wonder if Angela was feeling well, she looked a little flushed, "CCC carries heart-shaped boxes all year round; you just have to ask for them."

"Oh, isn't that nice," Angela was trying to sound like a competent, composed woman; which of course most of the time she was; but at the moment she was fighting a losing battle with her libido. "Tony, is there any brownie batter left?"

Brownie batter? Had Angela seriously just asked him about brownie batter? This was beyond comprehension to Tony. Why would she care if there was any batter left? "No, Angela, there's none left; I already washed the bowl."

"Oh, that's too bad," she sighed and turned around and leaned against the table.

"Angela, are you all right? I've never known you to be upset about brownie batter before."

"I…uh…was just hoping to lick the spoon," she winced as soon as the words came out.

Of course, how could he have forgotten? She always attacked the remnants of batter left on the spoon with reckless abandon. "Sorry, Angela, guess I was too worried about all the other details of the evening to remember the spoon."

She smiled, relieved that he hadn't read anything more into brownie batter and spoons than any sort of usual activity with them. "Weren't we having dinner?" After all, the sooner dinner was over, the sooner after dinner activities could commence.

Now he was relieved, "yes, and it's time we ate some of it instead of just talking about it."

"Truer words were never spoken," Angela thought, but she just nodded and made her way back to her chair. Tony also sat down and for a few minutes they actually did manage to eat, although at the back of her mind Angela concluded that her sole reason for eating was to have energy for later. "Tony, you've really outdone yourself, dinner is delicious, and every detail is perfect. Thank you for such a wonderful evening."

"I thought it was about time the two of us celebrated this day properly; and not from a set up by an 8 year old."

She smiled, her eyes sparkling in remembrance, "that was quite a night."

"Yes, it was," he smiled in return.

"And I may never admit this to Jonathan, but that was a clever plan he put together."

Tony smiled in remembrance, 'yes, it was. And I will reiterate, you did look awfully cute in that bathrobe."

Angela laughed.

"Although not half as cute as you look out of it," Tony added just loudly enough for her to hear.

"Tony!" she exclaimed in mock offense, not even coming close to pulling it off through her laughter.

He tried to look contrite but wasn't pulling it off any better than Angela was in her pretense.

But tonight wasn't about that night and Angela's thoughts were elsewhere, "not to change the subject completely, but I seem to remember finding a rose on my desk on Valentine's Day every year since then. You wouldn't happen to know how they got there, would you?" One pink rose in a bud vase on her desk at home every year; he never mentioned it, she never mentioned it. Typical of them.

Angela cherished those roses; they made Valentine's Day bearable for her. The first one surprised but thrilled her. The next year she feared the first one was a fluke and there'd be no rose, she tried not to think about it as it made her miserable, but the rose was there and her heart skipped a beat or two because of it. Some years she was anxious on the train home from work, wondering if the rose would be there; it always was, year after year; simple, elegant and saying so much without a single word. Sometimes she stared at the rose and lost herself in imagining a relationship between Tony and herself; those moments saw her through the times when it was most difficult for her to believe she'd ever be in love again with anyone, let alone Tony.

Tony's view on the roses was more pragmatic, he wasn't even sure what prompted him to start the tradition in the first place, although he always considered it to be that he wanted Angela to know someone was thinking of her. The first year he was nervous; afraid she'd reject the offering as a line they couldn't cross. Their undiscussed but mutually agreed upon silence on the subject was a relief to him. It made the ritual safe. Once or twice he thought about keeping a rose on her desk year round but rejected the idea as definitely crossing the line.

The rose always disappeared, Angela spiriting it away to the office just before it wilted. There she dried the petals and year after year added them to a covered pot pouri bowl she kept on her desk. Also undiscussed by them through the years.

He feigned innocence, "me? No, I don't know."

"Pity, I always wanted to bestow a special Valentine's thank you on the giver. Oh well," she continued as she left her chair, "I guess I'll just have to live my life in endless wonder about those mysterious roses."

He reached out to her and pulled her on to his lap. She kissed him, trying to impart to him without words her love and gratitude for his past gifts. Finally contented with the kissing, "oh, and Tony, that rose tradition had better not disappear just because we don't have to pretend anymore."

"Duly noted," he agreed as he kissed her.

Dinner was over; it was absurd to pretend otherwise.

"Tony," she almost simpered as she somehow cuddled closer to him, "you're right, anyone can celebrate Valentine's Day in February, I want to celebrate Valentine's Day in November every year."

His beamed and smiled, he should have known she'd love this idea. He'd touched her romantic heart and he was pleased she was made so ecstatic by the gesture. He answered her with a simple, fond, "ok, Angela."

"And I want to celebrate Valentine's Day in February too," she giddily pronounced.

His smile became broader, he hadn't expected anything less from her and he never had any intention of dropping February 14th from their repertoire. He placed his hand over his heart as if swearing an oath, "it shall be as you say, Angela, any whim you desire shall be yours," he stated as though he was a knight of the realm seeking favor with his lady fair. He might as well have knelt at her feet and bowed to her, so devout was this vow.

Angela looked at him, wondering if he was teasing her a little, but the look in his eyes was sincere and she loved him for it. The look on her face turned from blissful to almost predatory as she contemplated her whims for this evening. There were so many desires to choose from, she almost didn't know where to start.

Tony saw this change come over her and decided it was time for this Valentine's Day to take its privileged place in the history of their romance. But first, a practicality; "Angela, as much as I don't want to say this, we have to clear away dinner and everything else in here so there is no evidence left behind."

She sighed, he was right. Unless they wanted the rest of the family to know about them, they had to clean up. She gave serious consideration to this thought, but then discarded it because she and Tony were having so much fun with their secret. "True," she agreed and with that her mood temporarily changed into a slightly more sensible one. She got up and started clearing the table. Tony rearranged the furniture and between the two of them the living room was back to its normal self in a short time. Now all Angela had to do was figure out how to get the champagne, the glasses, the brownies, the roses, the champagne truffles and themselves upstairs in only one trip. She was eyeing the roses when she heard Tony fiddling with the stereo. She thought he was turning it off so she was surprised when she heard music instead of nothing.

Frank Sinatra, of course; she turned to protest, romantic as this was, she didn't need the added enchantment.

"Some day, when I'm awfully low, when the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight…"

Tony was holding a hand out to her, a silent plea for just a little more patience in his eyes. She acquiesced and took his hand, he pulled her close, and sang to her, "…there is nothing for me but to love you and the way you look tonight."

Angela stopped, looked him directly in the eye and said very gently, "Tony, honey, I love you. We've danced so much through the years, I love dancing with you, but I don't need to dance tonight. And you know your singing makes me want to drag you to any private area that happens to be nearby, so why are we still standing in the living room?"

He stroked her cheek and in his eyes she saw something she almost never saw there, nervousness. What could he have to be nervous about? He couldn't possibly think she'd suddenly decided to banish him from her room, could he? It was ridiculous to even consider.

He took her hand and led her to the couch.

Bewildered, Angela followed; at least the couch was a step in the right direction. Angela paused mentally to note that the couch was actually a step in the opposite direction from the stairs, but hopefully the couch was part of Tony's grand plan for the evening. Angela decided to just go with whatever he had in mind, so far the evening had been wonderful, if a little slow paced; there was no reason for that to change now, on either point.

She sat down, but Tony didn't; in fact he turned and took a couple of steps away from her.

"Tony?" she said in exasperation.

"Sorry," he said as he sat down next to her. Seeing an out, he grabbed the box of chocolate from the table and opened it for her, "care for a chocolate?"

Of course she wanted a chocolate, but she was hoping for a much better option tonight; sharing these truffles in bed was at the top of that list. Giving up, she reached for the chocolate.

"No, wait," Tony pulled the box away. Now he was just asking for trouble. "Sorry, Angela, I want this to be perfect and I realized you might be mad at me if you had chocolate on your fingers."

"How about my being mad at you for not being able to get to the point of having chocolate on my fingers? Tony, enough; I'm going upstairs, and I am taking the chocolates with me, since you obviously have no interest in anything other than teasing me tonight." She tried to stand up and reach for the chocolates, but Tony clasped both her hands to keep her on the couch and blocked her from the chocolates by kneeling on the floor in front of her.

They looked at each other, Angela seated on the couch, Tony on one knee, holding her hands. If she hadn't been so angry with him at the moment, Angela might have been able to see this for the romantic moment it was.

"Angela, stay with me for just a little bit longer, please."

"Fine."

This wasn't working the way Tony had planned, of course, he reflected, this was his own fault. You cannot offer a woman chocolate, then take it away with suffering some very nasty repercussions. Then again, that hadn't been part of his original plan; it was something that happened out of desperation.

"Please don't be angry with me."

"I'm not angry." Yes, she was, and they both knew it.

He caressed her hands. In methods to appease her anger, this didn't hurt.

"Tony, I feel like I am missing something. You carefully put all this together, did you really expect the evening to end with us shaking hands and going our separate ways?"

"No, of course not."

She leaned in closer to him, "then why are we here?"

"Because I love you."

"I love you too, which just brings us back again to the, 'why aren't we upstairs' question."

"Angela…," he closed his hands around hers a little more tightly, "you've been my strength through some of the most difficult moments of my life."

Now Angela was starting to become a little afraid, whatever he had to tell her was big. Was he sick? Leaving? Her anger disappeared, leaving compassion and a lot of fear.

"I don't know what my life would be like without you in it and I don't even want to think about what it would be like if we had never met."

Angela thought that was a very sweet thing to say and if she didn't know better she'd swear Tony was proposing. A sudden realization hit Angela so powerfully that she gasped and gripped Tony's hands more tightly than he'd thought possible. She'd waited so long, so very long for this proposal, kept thinking that it would happen in some far off future, or sometimes never at all, that when the moment was finally here, she almost missed it. It was obvious now, his nervousness, the planning, the wanting everything to be perfect; she now even forgave him for taking the chocolates away. He was right, she wouldn't want chocolate on her fingers for this.

"Tony, I don't want to think about my life without you in it either, and the thought of what my life would be like if we had never met, I can hardly even bear to say the words, let alone think about it."

They looked at each other, Angela tried to blink back a few tears, it didn't work. Tony reached up to wipe them away. They kissed.

"At least you aren't angry with me anymore."

"Hardly."

"Good."

They looked deeply into each other's eyes for a few moments and smiled. Angela's tears dried up and Tony felt it safe to continue.

"I love you…"

"I love you," Angela whispered back.

"Will you marry me?"

"Oh, Tony," she brought her hands to her face. She'd imagined the words so many times; but even her most elaborate fantasies were no match for the reality. The reality touched her to the core of her heart and soul. She was breathless.

It would be cruel to keep him waiting, so she threw her arms around him and kissed him, eventually managing to pull herself away long enough to rest her forehead against his and say, "yes, I will marry you."

"I was hoping that's what that kiss meant," now he really was teasing her.

"Tony," she laughed, then drew away and smiled at him. They were engaged. Finally. Her smile grew. They gazed at each other, both blissfully happy that this long awaited stage in their relationship had been attained. Angela hoped it wouldn't take another seven years for them to actually make it down the aisle.

Tony now had another bridge to cross. In his pocket was a small box; the kind from a jeweler, the kind that usually carries a diamond ring in it, which this one did. One of the most difficult decisions he'd had to make when planning this evening was the choice between buying the ring himself or waiting until after they were engaged to purchase. He knew Angela might have some very specific ideas about an engagement ring and he might not be able to afford those ideas on his own. She might want to contribute some of her own money in a show of solidarity. In the end a co-purchase didn't feel right to him, he decided to buy the ring on his own.

It was time to give her the ring and if she didn't like it, he'd do his best not to be hurt.

He pulled the box out of his pocket and opened it for her.

"Wow," was all she could say. For some reason she thought Tony just hadn't had time to buy a ring. This seemed silly now, a man who'd put this much thought into a proposal not finding the time for ring shopping? What had she been thinking?

She didn't hate the ring; he saw that in her eyes, all he saw was love.

"Wow," she said again, "Tony…," she could find no other words and those tears were threatening to return. She held out her hand, he pulled the ring out of the box. As he placed the ring on her finger, her tears evaporated as a beaming smile took over her face; in fact it took over her entire being. He smiled at her, inwardly marveling that all his worries had been for nothing; she obviously loved the ring.

Angela felt the ring being placed on her finger; it was such a wonderful sensation, Tony's hands touching her, the feel of the ring as it slipped on her finger. They were engaged; really engaged, she was still delightfully becoming accustomed to this turn of events. The diamond now on her finger helped, there was no greater proof of engagement than a ring on one's finger. She admired the ring, it was beautiful; a round solitaire in a yellow gold setting, she couldn't take her eyes off it.

Tony smiled and didn't let go of her hand, the ring graced her finger exactly as he had hoped it would. It was classic and elegant, just like Angela.

"Wow," she said again.

"That makes this a three 'wow' ring."

"I could think of other comments, but I'd rather do this," and with that she leaned forward to kiss him, folding her left hand around the hand that had never dropped hers once he placed the ring on it.

Some time later she stopped long enough to whisper, "Tony, sweetheart, do you think we could go upstairs now and celebrate our engagement?"

"Yes, Angela, we could."

"Good," Angela surprised him by rising from the couch very quickly; she'd been so starry-eyed he'd begun to doubt her ability to walk, let alone stand up. But stand and walk she did, which was convenient because carrying her would not be an option if they wanted to bring up the champagne, glasses, chocolates, roses and brownies in one trip. They were quite pleased with themselves for managing all the appropriate accoutrements; and even more so for remembering to turn off the stereo, for Frank had ceased serenading them some time ago.

Upstairs they celebrated, both glad for the privacy afforded by the absence of fellow members of the household.

The sun streaming through the window the next morning woke Angela. Her new ring glinted in the beams. Angela held the ring up in front of her face, moving her fingers to watch the sunlight play on her diamond. She was still in awe of the ring and everything it represented. She felt a kiss on her cheek, she turned to the bestower of that kiss and smiled, "good morning, sweetheart," she said as she touched his cheek, and returned his good morning kiss.

Now Tony was in awe, Angela was radiant this morning, "you're sparkling even more than the ring," he said. It was the truth. He picked up her hand and kissed it, idly twirling the ring around her finger.

She amazed him by somehow beaming even more brilliantly, she sighed, "fiance," as though she was trying the word on for size. Deciding she most definitely liked that word in relation to Tony, she said, "that's the most beautiful word in the English language." To emphasize her point she kissed her fiance again, pushing him on his back; thereby enacting Tony's one and only plan for the day: not leaving the bedroom, except for food. Maybe.

At family dinner the following Sunday, Mona, Jonathan and Samantha saw something different in Tony and Angela; although they couldn't discern what it might be. Mona finally decided to chalk it up to a very good weekend alone. Jonathan didn't give much thought to it at all; his mom was happy and that's all he really cared about. Sam was contemplative; it was obvious that her Dad and Angela were happier than ever, and she was curious as to the reason; she was also frustrated because there was no way she could come right out and ask them what had changed.

Angela was being sneaky and not wearing her new engagement ring; it tortured her to take it off, but she compromised by putting it on a chain and attaching it to a bra strap so it was near her heart. When they went to bed that night, Angela discovered that being bereft of her engagement ring during the day wasn't as bad as she thought it was, for when Tony placed the ring back on her finger it was as though the ring held a magic charm that transported them from their daily existences to their own enchanted world. This became a daily ceremony for them, as Angela would be wearing her ring to work in secret. Each night worked its magic spell, creating their own world of rapture, a world sacred to the two of them.

There were plenty more Valentine's Days in their life together, some they were even eccentric enough to celebrate on February 14th; and even though none of them were bad, in fact, they were very, very good; Angela would always say that November 15, 1991 was the best Valentine's Day ever.


	14. The No Chapter Chapter

The No Chapter Chapter

I'm sorry, looking at the time available and the amount of work left to be done on this week's chapter, there is no way it will be finished by anytime tomorrow. Let's say I have a better chance of winning the Powerball than finishing.

I'm scaling back the schedule as I can't seem to keep up anymore. I have the time to write, but not the...serene opportunity. It's frustrating. I'll try to keep as close to the original schedule as possible, but not even I know what that means. I'll post when I can.

As always, thank you for reading; I very much appreciate it.

VioletStella

Saturday, 8/3/13: I was in the grocery store today; a store I had never been to before actually, and as I was traversing the aisles looking for the object of my errand, my ears picked up the song on the store music system. What was that song? "Surf City". I sighed, inwardly (because I certainly didn't want to share my resignation with the whole store.) What are the odds that a song used in WTB? would be playing in a store I had never been to before in the short time I was in said store? And when was the last time I even heard that song in a non-WTB? use? Couldn't tell you.

But I did buy a Powerball ticket. And stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

So I had this idea today, a way for there to be a chapter in the 'No Chapter Chapter'; which would then mean it is actually a chapter. Sort of. Here it is:

Angela found herself in the living room, alone. Something was wrong. First; the fact that she was alone, it was an unwelcome experience after the past few months. Second; the living room was filled with a white, cloud like mist. This fog permeated the whole house, she looked upstairs and only saw more of this mysterious mist. Confused, Angela did what she always did when she was at a loss or needed clarification or was just looking for a good time; "Tony!" she called into the mist.

Tony bounded into the living room from the kitchen, "Angela? I heard you, but I don't see you."

"I'm over here...ouch!" Well, she found the couch anyway.

"Careful."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Angela dropped down onto the couch and massaged her aching toes. Tony sat down next to her and took over the toe massaging. All of a sudden Angela didn't mind hurting herself.

"Tony, is this mist in the kitchen too?"

"Yes."

"What's going on?"

"Dunno; maybe it's Purgatory."

"Tony, honey, we're fictional characters, this is no Purgatory."

"Some would argue there is no Purgatory for real people either."

"Tony, do you really want to get into a theological discussion?"

Tony looked at Angela, he looked at her foot which he was still caressing, and he knew his answer, "most definitely not."

Angela smiled, "good. We're here, we're alone, let's make the best of it."

Tony leaned over to kiss her when they heard the door nearest Angela's den open; they pulled apart quickly.

"What is going on?" Mona demanded.

"No idea," Tony answered, hoping that Mona was referring to the mist and not that she had caught him in a compromising position with her daughter. Not that she would have minded; he just didn't want to be caught.

"Is there mist in your apartment too, Mother?"

"In my apartment, in my shoes, in my closet; everywhere. It's worse than sand in my bikini at the beach. I hate that."

"Oh yeah, me too," Tony mocked.

"Watch it..." Mona started but before she could answer, Angela stepped in (figuratively, of course); "that's enough you two, we don't know what's going on, we don't know how long we'll be here, we have to make the best of it."

Mona smirked at Tony; Tony smirked back.

"Do you two have it out of your system now?" Angela asked.

"Yes, Mother," Mona said, sounding bored, annoyed, and bratty.

Tony laughed, "your mother called you 'Mother'." Angela glared at him, a glare that told him to knock it off before he found himself back sleeping in his old room. He shut up very quickly, causing Mona to smirk again.

"Have you tried to call Sam?" Angela asked pragmatically.

"No."

"Well maybe we should find out if she is also affected by this."

"Fine. Yo, Sam!"

"Not exactly what I meant, Tony."

But whether Angela meant for Tony to call Sam on the phone or not was irrelevant as she and Jonathan entered the mist through the front door.

"Dad? What's going on?"

"No idea. Is the mist outside too?"

"Yeah, it's everywhere," Jonathan answered, "it's weird, like the whole neighborhood is adrift in a cloud."

"That's very poetic, dear."

"You sure Michael is his father and not Brian, Brian Thomas?" Tony whispered jealously in Angela's ear.

"Funny."

"By the way, have you ever told Jonathan that technically speaking he's illegitimate?" he again whispered.

Angela's glare this time around would have sent any other man emotionally back to junior high school and swear off dating forever.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Tony simply answered.

"Any of this private conversation you two care to share?" Mona intervened, hoping for any sort of excitement.

"No," they answered together emphatically. It wasn't much, but Mona did take some satisfaction in their shared answer.

"We're all here, what do we do now?" Jonathan asked.

They all looked at each other.

"Let's look at this logically," Angela started, "we're gathered together, with no instructions on what to do."

"That about covers it, yes; thanks for the recap," was Mona's helpful addition to the conversation.

"At least the fog seems to be lifting," Sam noted. It was true, the fog was dissipating a little, enough so that they could now see each other.

"You mean I am stuck here for an indeterminate amount of time with the four of you?" Mona asked desperately. Then started yelling, "Help! Help!"

"No one can hear you, Mother."

"How do you know?"

"Did anyone answer?"

"No."

"Well, there's your answer."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Play Scrabble?" Sam suggested.

"Oh gosh, can we? That sounds like such fun," Mona contributed.

"Sarcasm is not going to help the situation, Mother."

"It helps me," she answered under her breath.

"Who knows how long we'll be here? Maybe Monopoly is a better choice," Jonathan said.

The Monopoly game conveniently appeared on the coffee table.

"I guess that settles that," Tony said, "as long as I am not the iron."

"I call dog!" Sam declared.

"I wanna be the dog, it's the cutest token, so I should have it!" Mona argued.

"Girls; if you can't decide this between you, then no one gets to be the dog," Tony said, and with that he took the dog token and hid it in the seat cushions of the couch. "Angela, what do you want to be?"

"What?"

"Token, Angela, what token do you want to be?"

"Uh, dog, I guess."

"Angela, were you just listening?"

"Sorry, I was lost in thought." It was true, when the Monopoly board appeared on the table, her mind raced.

"Did you think of a way out of this?" Mona asked.

"No, I was thinking this, what would happen if I said we needed some refreshments?" Angela got her answer immediately as a bowl of popcorn, soda and a box of chocolates appeared on the table.

"Whoa, that was awesome," Jonathan said, "let me try, I want filet mignon." Jonathan was not disappointed as the filet appeared on the table.

"Well, it's better than Monopoly," Mona stated, her own mind suddenly racing, considering the possibilities of what she might be able to conjure up.

And even though they still didn't know what they were doing or how long they would be there, at least they were well taken care of.

Yeah, I need a break,

VioletStella


	15. Chapter 15

As this whole chapter is currently over 12,000 words (and still counting), I am dividing it into sections. The first is finally ready to be posted, so here it is.

An Unexpected Christmas Present Part One

Christmas. There was almost no word that made Angela happier (although if she were making a list the other words would include: Tony, love, Tony, chocolate, Tony, hugging, kissing, sex, and Tony.) Long her favorite time of year, this year she was especially giddy with anticipation for the holiday season. The decorations, the special culinary treats, the extra special time with family. Family. Angela thought about each treasured member of her family and counted her blessings that she was so lucky to have every one of them in her life; however thoughts of one very beloved person occupied her mind more than the others.

She was sitting on the couch, twirling an ornament in her fingers daydreaming about him when she suddenly heard a thud behind her. She was startled and turned around to see Tony standing by the last box of decorations he'd just brought down from the attic and dropped on the floor. It was finally time to start decorating the living room. Mona would, of course, have nothing to do with decorating, except for dropping off her stocking to be hung by the chimney with someone's else's care. Sam was studying for finals, Jonathan wanted to avoid being around the overly happy couple as much as possible so he made up a lie about having to study at the library and told them he'd be back much later in the day, maybe by the time he returned they'd be slightly less...filled with the spirit of the season. Not likely.

Tony was quite happy with this turn of events, he had definite plans for decorating, and none of them included Mona, Jonathan or Samantha. The stereo was playing Christmas music, right now Jo Stafford was singing about her lack of concern for the cold weather because she had her love to keep her warm. Tony definitely agreed with the sentiment; the song prompted him to put one of his plans into effect. He excused himself to the kitchen for a moment; Angela took the time to open another of the myriad boxes of decorations.

Tony returned, hiding a little something behind his back. Angela didn't see him as she was taking lights out of a box. He snuck up beside her and kissed her. Angela was surprised, but certainly not averse to the detour from decorating. He put an arm around her, pulling her closer, she responded by putting her arms around him; then stopped kissing him when she realized he never put his second arm around her. She looked at him, a silent question on her face. He smiled and flicked his eyes up.

Angela followed his gaze to see his arm extended upward, holding, "mistletoe," she said in a mixture of awe and delight. "I do like the way you decorate," she kissed him again, quickly, "but why is it still in your hand and not hanging from the ceiling?" If the mistletoe were in its proper place his other hand could be on her, where it belonged.

"The mistletoe has to be properly tested," he said with an air of a scientist explaining his latest experiment.

"Tested?" Angela was mystified.

"Have to make sure it works; wouldn't want this year's batch to let us down now would we?" he said much less formally, and with a definite twinkle in his eye.

"No, we certainly couldn't have that," she smiled; he was so thoughtful, and she definitely liked the turns his thoughts took.

He kissed her again, slowly, tenderly and for quite some time.

"So, what do you think?" she asked breathlessly when they finally separated.

"I think it needs more testing."

She laughed quickly as Tony continued with his mistletoe research. He was determined to utilize the mistletoe as often as possible this year. When he finally let go, Angela blushed and leaned her forehead against his, "Tony, you keep kissing me like that and the mistletoe will be the only decoration this house has for the whole season."

As much as that idea appealed to him, he knew practicalities had to be addressed, it certainly would require quite a bit of creative explanation if Mona and Jonathan returned home only to find boxes in the living room and nothing else. He indulged in one more short kiss, then went to bring the step ladder in from the kitchen.

From that year forward the mistletoe was the first decoration to be placed and the last to be taken down. There were even times when Tony considered leaving it up year round. No matter the duration of its stay it was always well tested. Very well tested.

Tony and Angela focused on their task; the decorating, not the kissing, although they did not neglect that task either. They were able to achieve some actual decorating goals despite frequent quick stops to make sure the mistletoe lost none of its effectiveness now that it was hanging from the ceiling. They finished the banister, the mantle, the doors; then called a temporary halt. The tree was scheduled to be decorated after Sam was finished with school for the semester. Angela wanted the whole family there, including her mother, no matter how much she protested. Angela had the perfect tree trimming family event planned, there would be hot chocolate with whipped cream, popcorn, candy canes, fudge; lots of music, laughter and family togetherness. She was in sentimental overload just thinking about how wonderful it was going to be.

Sitting on the couch to survey their handiwork, Tony and Angela glanced around the room, pleased with the results. They toasted their decorating with hot chocolate, "to another Christmas together," Tony declared and they clinked their mugs together. The sounds of Frank Sinatra singing, "Mistletoe and Holly" were floating through the air.

Angela's memories were drifting through their past Christmases, "Tony, the first Christmas you and Sam were here was the best Christmas ever."

"What about this Christmas?"

"This Christmas hasn't happened yet."

"Good point."

"What made that Christmas so good?"

"You and Sam were here, isn't that enough?"

Tony was a little taken aback by this, "Sam and I were that important to you even then?"

Angela put her hot chocolate on the table, Tony followed suit; he could sense this wasn't going to be easy for her.

"Don't underestimate your importance to me, Tony. You and Sam brought such wonderful change with you. The year before was terrible. Michael was in some remote jungle somewhere, as usual; he couldn't even call. Jonathan was heartbroken that his father wasn't here, he tried to hide it, but I could see it in his eyes. I was heartbroken for him, and tried to hide it. Mother just wanted to machete her way to wherever Michael was. What she planned to do with the machete once she found him was another matter entirely. She was furious with him for hurting the two people she loved the most. I gave Jonathan everything he wanted and then some. I knew the presents were no substitute for what he really wanted, but I didn't know what else to do," she started to break down. He wiped her tears away, but had no words of comfort for her, only compassion.

"He kept looking at the front door with the most hopeful expression on his face, even though I told him beforehand that his father would not be home for Christmas. I guess he thought his dad would surprise both of us." To this day Angela's heart broke at the memory of her eager little boy. "Mother tried to help, she spent the whole day playing with him; but the day was...empty somehow. There was no joy. Jonathan went to bed early. Mother and I tucked him in, told him we loved him; then went down to the kitchen and argued about Michael."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, things got better," she kissed his cheek and cuddled up to him.

Tony put his arm around her, but was a little distracted by his own memories. In all the years they'd been together Tony always thought Michael had been around for that Christmas. It was a revelation to him that someone else was having a lousy Christmas that year too. His own 'celebration', if it could have been called that, was subdued. Mrs. Rossini invited them over, fed them well, didn't let them leave early, and spoiled Sam with presents, which Sam appreciated; but they were also no substitute for her recent loss. Tony slipped away for a while during the day and spent some time alone in his father's former apartment, still not able to comprehend that his father was gone; let alone acknowledge the fact that it was Christmas.

"You ok?" A voice permeated his thoughts.

He came back to the present, "sorry, Angela. I was just thinking about how I spent that Christmas."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. Here I am blubbering about Jonathan and your own Christmas that year was even worse."

"Don't worry, it got better," he kissed her forehead.

She touched his cheek, remembering the poignancy of their first Christmas together. They'd both been through so much, and even though they didn't realize it at the time, they were picking up the pieces of the past and using them to forge a new future, together.

He remembered the day she helped him clean out his father's apartment. He closed a chapter in his life that day; but there were many more chapters still to be written. If anyone had told him then what some of those chapters would be, he would have been astonished. He also would have told them they were crazy. Going to college? Being engaged to Angela? Neither one of those events was even a speck of chalk dust on the blank slate of his future at the time.

He touched her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her, without the benefit of mistletoe, "thank you again," he said as he pulled away; they dropped their hands into their laps, and held onto each other there.

She smiled, "you're welcome again, but for what?"

"For being the angel that you are. For being there when I needed you the most, the day we cleaned out my father's apartment. I didn't know how much I needed you until you showed up. How did you know?"

She was touched by his words, "everyone needs help when going through something like that. When I got there...I noticed you hadn't done much packing."

He shrugged, a little sheepishly.

She looked him in the eye, "Tony, all I wanted to do was put my arms around you and hold you until the pain went away."

"Why didn't you?"

She gave him an 'are you kidding me' look, "that was a long time ago, Tony, compared to what we are now we were still total strangers then. Even though we were beginning to carefully step over lines, it would have been inappropriate."

"It wouldn't be inappropriate now."

She smiled impishly, "No, it wouldn't."

She put her arms around him, he held her as well. They stayed there, united, for a very long time, both lost in memories, but not letting themselves succumb to any sadness these memories might evoke. Instead they focused on their present happiness.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear, "you've made such a difference in Jonathan's life. Sometimes the words, 'thank you' aren't enough."

"Neither are 'you're welcome', but I'll say it anyway, you're welcome. Angela you've shared your son with me, 'thank you' isn't enough to express my gratitude for that either. He's very important to me, you know."

She knew. "You've always been such a good dad to him, right from the very beginning. You weren't in the house more than two minutes when he was listening to you far more than he had been listening to me."

"I just pointed out the benefits of obeying one's mother."

She laughed, "well, it worked."

"In more ways than one."

She smiled and gave him a quick kiss, wondering how she ever would have managed if she had turned him away that day; and shuddering to think of what her life would be like today if she had gone through with her first decision.

"Thank you for sharing Sam with me, she's one of the most precious gifts of my life."

"Thank you for loving her as your own."

"We're getting a little too sappy with all these 'thank yous', aren't we?"

"There's no one else around to be bothered by our sappiness."

"Be that as it may, I still remember so vividly the second Sam walked through the front door. Here was this beautiful little girl who'd been through so much, she stole my heart, I wanted to make everything all better for her."

"You did; she needed you."

"I needed her too."

They looked at each other, no further 'thank yous' or 'you're welcomes' needing to be said, for the words truly weren't strong enough and they could see the gratitude in each other's eyes. Angela burrowed back into Tony's arms. They continued to hold each other, knowing that even though they had come a long way on their journey, the journey was still unfolding. At least now they would face the future together, hand in hand, instead of trying to force their relationship into a form it had long outgrown.

The hot chocolate grew cold, night was falling; Tony and Angela might have stayed right there on the couch, contentedly holding each other until Jonathan came home, except for one thing.

The music.

Tony felt Angela laugh against his chest, he stroked her back and smiled. It was time for a change of mood. She looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye, and acknowledged the song currently playing, "Tony, you know how I feel about this recording. A classic is a classic; the only real recording of this song is by Bing Crosby."

He mock-gasped, complete with hand over heart, "Angela...The Drifters..."White Christmas"...you know it's my favorite."

"And you know Bing is my favorite. There is no discussion here Tony. "White Christmas" is to be sung by Bing only."

"Angela, I love you, but you're just flat out wrong here."

"Wrong, am I?"

"Uh huh."

"There would be no "White Christmas" for The Drifters to record if Bing hadn't recorded it first."

"How do you know? It would have been a hit no matter who recorded it first."

This was the same 'argument' they'd been having for years; which always ended with neither one of them conceding to the other as to which recording was better. It was one of their favorite holiday games.

"You ready to finish this for the year?"

"Yes."

In years past the argument ended with a handshake, this year the tradition was changed to a kiss.

After they finished kissing; Tony smiled a secretive smile, jumped up from the couch, rushed over to open a drawer, and pulled out a beautifully wrapped present, "Merry Christmas, Angela," he said, sitting down on the couch, obviously eager for her to open the gift.

Angela was happily surprised, "thanks, hon, but it's not Christmas yet."

"This is a private gift, I don't want you to open it in front of anyone else."

Now Angela was most definitely intrigued. "Oh," she said as she took the box from him, "but it's too small to be a lingerie box."

Tony couldn't tell if she was serious or not, "Angela, I did not buy you lingerie for Christmas."

Angela momentarily pretended to be disappointed, which surprised Tony, but then continued her flirting, "Valentine's Day, then?" she asked hopefully, and rather seductively.

Now Tony was floored, took a deep breath to calm himself. He cleared his throat, needing to get the focus back to Christmas, "fine, yes, I will by you lingerie for Valentine's Day," he agreed, a little wary of the glee in Angela's eyes; but he took up the gauntlet, "is there anything in particular you would like?"

"Surprise me," she said with a wicked glint in her eye and a devilish grin.

Even though he was surrounded by it, Tony almost forgot about Christmas.

She opened the box and gasped, "oh, Tony! It's beautiful, thank you!" The box held a delicate necklace, a heart shape made of diamonds. Angela's heart skipped several beats as she kissed him.

Tony was thrilled to see the joy in her eyes, it was clear she loved the gift, "you're welcome; here, let me put it on."

"Thanks."

He draped the necklace on her, she ran over to the mirror to see how it looked and couldn't take her eyes or hands off the necklace.

Tony came up beside her, "merry Christmas Angela" he said; then kissed the necklace, her lips, and a few other places.

"Merry Christmas, Tony. Honey, I was wrong, this is the best Christmas ever."

"And it's not even Christmas itself yet."

She was struck by a dilemma, she touched the necklace, "I can't show this to everyone yet, what do we do about Christmas morning?"

"Don't worry, I have something else for you to open Christmas morning."

"You do? Can I have a hint?"

"Nope," he smirked.

She changed strategy, drawing a finger down his cheek, "I bet I could get you to tell me."

Tony took another very deep breath, "that's an unfair tactic, Angela," he said as he stopped her finger, then moved her hand to kiss her finger.

She pretended to pout; decided to wait until Christmas morning for her other Christmas present, then changed to a serious topic, "Tony, when should we tell everyone about us?"

"I don't know, when do you want to tell?"

"I asked you first."

"Maybe we should go by the fire and discuss it."

"Very funny."

"Seriously Angela, any time is fine with me. You must have some idea, you did bring the subject up."

Even though she had broached the topic, she really didn't have any concrete thoughts. She considered the possibilities, "they'll have to know by Valentine's Day...real Valentine's Day, that is," she smiled in recollection, "I don't want to sneak around for Valentine's Day."

"You think we've been sneaking around?"

"Well, sneaking may be too strong a word; but we haven't exactly been honest with them."

"Should we tell them for a Christmas present?"

Angela considered this possibility, then decided she wasn't quite ready to put an end to their solitude yet, "no, Christmas itself is so happy, it doesn't need anything else to make it happier; and we're not telling them anything they don't already know anyway; we're just confirming it."

"They don't know we're engaged."

"And I don't want Mother's exultant shout for joy to disrupt the neighbors' Christmas."

He laughed, "so, a noisy atmosphere then?" He thought for a moment, "New Year's Eve?"

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea! Everyone will be celebrating already, another reason to celebrate will make it even better."

So it was agreed between them that New Year's Eve would be the night they would finally share their old news, and their new news.

The Christmas season continued to be joyful for Angela, Sam came home and Angela's family tree decorating dream came true. However, there was one plan that bothered her; she still couldn't believe she agreed to it. Several weeks ago her mother had started a campaign to bring the family to Florida to spend Christmas on the sunny beaches, with palm trees as Christmas trees. The first time she brought it up, Angela had vehemently put her foot down. Christmas was an occasion to be spent at home, surround by the love of family gathered in the living room with the cozy warmth of a fire burning in the fireplace. Snow should be softly falling outside as wrapping paper was carelessly torn off the gifts inside. There should be food, succulent delights lovingly prepared by Tony, with the family gathered around the table, enjoying each other's company. That was Christmas in Angela's mind and she would not consider any other plan.

Mona amended her idea, if Angela didn't want to spent Christmas itself in Florida, she'd convince her to spend the post-Christmas week in Florida. Jonathan, Sam, and Tony would all be on break from school; she pointed out that the students deserved a break from cold, blustery, icy Connecticut. However, it was Mona's strongest argument that was the deciding factor for Angela. Mona pointed out that there were very few chances left to take a family vacation together. This last point shocked Angela to her core and she agreed to the trip. Her mother promised to make all the arrangements. This in itself should have been a warning to Angela, but as she wanted as little to do with this trip as possible, and was too distracted by Tony; she let her mother make all the arrangements; and she did, every last one of them.

Angela didn't think much about the trip, it was Christmas itself she was focused on, in her mind the trip was an afterthought, a minor part of the seasonal celebration. Sam was home and sleeping in her old room, Jonathan moved back upstairs when Sam came home, so he was sleeping in his old room. Unfortunately for Angela, the kids being home meant that Tony was also sleeping in his old room. It was the only damper on her otherwise happy holiday season; but if it meant having the kids at home for a little bit longer, even she would make the sacrifice of sleeping alone.

Christmas morning arrived and Angela was more excited than the kids. She threw on her pink bathrobe and rushed out into the hallway to give the kids Christmas hugs, they went downstairs to see Mona shaking presents. Tony was also downstairs, starting a fire.

"'Bout time you sleepy heads got down here, I've already identified most of the presents."

"Merry Christmas, Mother," Angela walked over to hug her mother.

"Merry Christmas, honey," Mona hugged back. Angela turned her attention to the pile of presents under the tree.

Mona turned her attention to Sam and Jonathan, she pointed to her neck. The kids nodded conspiratorially. Grins appeared on all their faces. "Merry Christmas, kids," Mona hugged them both, knowing that this was indeed a very merry Christmas.

Tony turned away from the fireplace to see Angela bending over the presents, his face fell, for dangling from Angela's neck was his Christmas present to her, the heart necklace. Up until today she'd been wearing the necklace to bed and taking off in the morning; at least until this morning when she'd been so excited that she'd neglected to remove it. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the rest of the family had seen it too. He had to do some damage control, he grabbed her hand, inwardly relieved to note that she had remembered to take off her engagement ring, "Angela, I need to discuss the...turkey with you in the kitchen...now."

"Tony, what do I know about turkey?" she protested, true enough; plus she didn't want to go to the kitchen when their were so many beautiful presents right here.

"You know what it tastes like, that's all that's important right now," and with that he pulled her into the kitchen.

High fives were exchanged between Mona, Sam and Jonathan. "I can't wait 'til Mrs. Rossini gets here to tell her about this," Sam was practically jumping up and down for joy from the sight of that beautiful necklace. "I want a relationship like that someday," she sighed.

"Just remember, kiddo, that relationship took seven years of give and take; and sometimes even pain," Mona reminded her; but Sam wasn't paying much attention, she was too lost in dreams of romance.

In the kitchen Angela protested, "Tony, why did you almost drag me in here? Obviously it has nothing to do with turkey."

He put his arms around her neck; she smiled, if he wanted a good morning Christmas kiss, being alone in the kitchen was a good way to go about it. But he didn't kiss her, instead he touched the back of her neck. Angela wasn't arguing with the sensation, it was rather nice; but then reality struck and she gasped, "Oh Tony, I'm sorry."

Tony pulled his hands away, now holding the necklace.

"You think we should tell them?"

"They aren't going to confront us, Angela; they'll pretend they didn't see it. They are leaving the ball in our court."

"I still want to wait then."

"OK."

She slipped the necklace into a pocket of her robe. They tested the mistletoe in the kitchen, even though they had to improvise and use bay leaves as mistletoe, then returned to the family for the frenzy of present opening.

No mention was made of the necklace, by anyone.

Mrs. Rossini eventually arrived, carrying all sorts of Christmas delicacies. Sam rushed to help unburden her, she almost rudely grabbed the food out of Mrs. Rossini's hands in her eagerness to drag her up to her room and let her in on the latest news. It was a good thing Sam closed the door behind them because otherwise Mrs. Rossini's shout for joy would have been even louder. Everyone heard it anyway, but they all chose to conveniently ignore it; especially Tony and Angela.

The family enjoyed every second of their Christmas together. Angela still couldn't quite grasp the fact that they, except for Mrs. Rossini; who couldn't get away from the fish store for that long, would be boarding a plane for Florida early tomorrow, but she'd confront that in the morning. Today she reveled in the joy of home and family, grateful to be surrounded by so much love.


	16. Chapter 16

An Unexpected Christmas Present Part Two

Everyone in the house was up before the cool winter sun the day after Christmas. Angela grumbled all the while she was getting dressed, she had asked her mother to change the flight to a later time; repeatedly in fact, but her mother had refused, insisting that an earlier flight meant an earlier arrival in Florida; hence more time to enjoy the sunshine. Angela finally gave in by rationalizing to herself that it didn't matter when the flight left; as long as the family was together. Then she made a secret vow to never let her mother plan a trip again.

The flight itself was uneventful; but while gathering their luggage at the airport in Ft. Myers, Florida; Tony turned around to one of the biggest shocks he'd ever had.

"Surprise!" Mrs. Rossini held out her arms to him.

Surprise didn't even begin to describe it; when Mrs. Rossini left the house yesterday Tony hadn't expected to see her until some time in 1992.

"Mrs. Rossini, what are you doing here?" he asked, trying to understand her presence in Florida.

She hugged him. Tony was glad to see her, but still confused.

"Let's move this conversation somewhere a little more secluded, shall we?" Mona suggested, setting her trap.

Both Tony and Angela were starting to get a bad feeling about this.

The group moved themselves and all of their luggage into a quiet corner.

"Mrs. Rossini, no one told me you were coming along," Tony looked at Mona for her failure in communication. She looked back at him with the most angelic, innocent face; causing Tony to start wondering about what she might have up her sleeve. Something wasn't adding up; Mona inviting Mrs. Rossini along was strange enough; but Mona inviting Mrs. Rossini and not telling him was a puzzle he didn't have time to figure out because Mrs. Rossini was saying something, he turned his attention back to her.

"...didn't think I'd miss your wedding, did you?" she said nonchalantly.

"Wedding? What wedding?" He tried to process what he thought he heard Mrs. Rossini say. He thought he heard her say, "your wedding," but she couldn't have, could she? Tony was flummoxed. He stared at Mrs. Rossini, hoping to prompt her to elaborate. As he did so he missed not only seeing the smug look Mona's face, but the matching smug expressions on Jonathan and Samantha's faces as well.

Mrs. Rossini crossed her arms and waited patiently for Tony and Angela to come to their senses.

Angela saw the self-satisfied expressions and the bad feeling she felt before now grew even darker. She suddenly felt as though she had dropped down a rabbit hole and the whole world was spinning. Desperate measures were called for, "Tony, is there something you haven't told me?" Angela asked, belatedly realizing she probably should have said something like, "I didn't know you were even dating anyone, Tony." Too late now, though; and no matter what she could have said as a cover, no member of the "Enough is Enough Club" would have bought it anyway.

"I don't know anything about a wedding, Angela," Tony looked at her and answered, honestly enough.

"I do," Mona answered firmly, "and you two had better brush up on those words."

Angela looked at her mother, Mrs. Rossini, and the kids; they all had very determined looks on their faces, but that didn't stop her from questioning, "what are you talking about, Mother?"

"Drop it, blondie; it's a fun little game the six of us have been playing for the past few months, but it's time you two lived up to your parental responsibilities," for emphasis she over-dramatically brought her hand to her head, then moved to stand in between Sam and Jonathan. Putting an arm around each of them and pulling them close, she said, "will no one think of the children!" It must be said that Sam and Jonathan played their parts to perfection as well, looking as much like lost waifs as they could.

Angela crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "you're a fine one to lecture us about responsibility."

Mona shrugged and smiled.

"All the arrangements are made," Mrs. Rossini said.

"Arrangements for what?" Tony asked.

"Your wedding," she repeated, wondering how many times she'd have to say it before it sunk in.

"My wedding?" Tony was trying to act confused, he didn't have to work hard at it because he truly was confused. He was starting to comprehend something about a wedding; his wedding, but he was also still trying to grasp on to any hope that the jig was not up. Their wedding was planned? Did Angela tell Mona about their secret engagement? He looked at his fiancée; she looked just as shocked as he was, so it wasn't likely she'd let Mona in on the secret. Who was he kidding? If Angela had told her mother she was engaged to him, Mona would have taken out a full-page ad in "The New York Times;" in addition to the two-story billboard in Times Square she would have rented to announce the news. So Angela was just as in the dark about this wedding talk as he was; or else she was in on it too and putting on a really good show for him.

Angela spoke up, "what wedding? Who's getting married?"

"Don't try to be coy, Angela," her mother dismissed.

Angela was about to say, "Tony and I don't have any plans to be married," but a certain ring in a certain hiding place reminded her that they did have some plans; or at least an agreement, if no actual plans. Instead she said, "you're being absurd. You can't plan a wedding for two people without them even knowing about it."

"And yet, I did."

"This is ridiculous, I'm getting back on the plane and going home."

Tony had to reassess his earlier thought, Angela definitely wasn't in on these plans.

Angela could protest and protest, it wasn't going to bother Mona at all. "And miss all this Florida sunshine? I've planned you two a beautiful sunset wedding on a beach of Sanibel Island tonight."

"Tonight?" Tony and Angela both said together, which only sealed their fate as far as Mona was concerned.

When Angela woke up this morning she had no idea a wedding was in store for her later in the day. She gathered her wits, trying to formulate some sort of counter attack; but her wits betrayed her, for all they did was point out to her was that a wedding today would save her from having to plan anything, and would be very romantic. She cleared her head, vowing that no matter what, she was not getting married today; if for no other reason than the fact that she did not want to give her mother the satisfaction of gloating.

"Enough. I don't know what put this idea into your head, but you've made plans that are going to have to be canceled, I hope you can get your deposits back."

"I hope so too, dear; since I made them all on your credit cards."

"Of course," Angela acknowledged resignedly.

"It's simple, Angela; you and Tony get married and you don't have to worry about losing any of your deposit money."

Denial, denial, denial was their only option at this point. "Where did you ever get the idea that Tony and I want to be married?"

Mona thought her daughter's attempt at denial was cute, if that was the tack she wanted to take, fine; she could deal with that, she very bluntly said, "face it, you're busted. We've known about you two for months," she mimicked Angela, "Tony grew up in Brooklyn, I'm sure he can handle the mean streets of Connecticut."

Angela did her best to not laugh, she even bit the inside of her cheek, but couldn't contain herself. She started out with a little giggle, then had to put her hand over her face and turn away as the giggle turned to laughter. Tony watched her with affection.

The other four members of the party watched them and wondered who they were trying to kid. If Angela's reaction hadn't been enough, the stars in their eyes were an even better confirmation of the truth. Tony and Angela eventually noticed the eyes of their family members were on them by their silence.

"Stop staring, we haven't confirmed anything," Angela grasped at that straw. The "we" was a mistake that created a glint in her mother's eyes.

"Angela, daughter of mine, we saw the diamond necklace you were wearing yesterday morning."

Angela blushed and turned to Tony. Tony smiled at her. They both started laughing.

"Do you think Tony and I could have a say in this?" Angela asked, although the question was pointless.

"No," was Mona's short, sweet and final answer.

Angela crossed her arms; her mother was not going to bully her into a wedding. She turned to Tony, "you're being awfully quiet for someone whose life is being turned upside down. How do you feel about being coerced into a wedding?"

Tony stepped closer to her, "They aren't exactly coercing us, Angela."

"They aren't? We must have different definitions of 'coerce'."

"Angela, this saves us from the hassles of wedding planning." He would have to point out the same practicality, wouldn't he? Tony pointed out more practicalities, "no matter when this wedding takes place my responsibilities as a groom are clearly outlined: one: show up. I'm here without even knowing I had to be here. Two: have the rings. "I'm guessing Mona has taken care of that as well," he looked at her, she nodded, "three: say, 'I do,' I think I can manage to say the words again at the appropriate time; and I'll even throw in a fourth: look good in a tux." Angela wasn't going to argue with the fact that he certainly had that covered, still she felt a little let down that he wasn't backing her up on objecting to this ambush.

"That's a good future son-in-law," Mona cooed, somehow making herself sound like a chocolate chip cookie baking, bootie knitting, "Wheel Of Fortune" watching grandmother; albeit a slightly sarcastic one.

Angela eyes were getting a workout today from all the rolling they were doing toward her mother.

Tony chuckled then said, "they used the time we have been playing the, 'we know they know, but let's pretend we don't know they know' game well; and I'm impressed that they have pulled off this wedding surprise brilliantly," he added with a nod to Mona.

"Thank you," Mona preened, seeing that Tony was on her side, she continued, "Angela, you have no reason not to go through with this."

"There are plenty of reasons. I still can't believe this, you planned a wedding; a wedding, not a birthday party or any other celebration. A wedding affects our lives; for the rest of our lives, it's not something to jump into without any thought."

"You've had seven years to think about it, that's long enough."

Angela was flabbergasted, "you can't be serious..."

"Don't tell me you're going to take another seven years to think about it. If you two hadn't been so stubborn you could have been married years ago," Mona's patience was wearing thin, "we have a car and driver waiting outside to help us finish the necessary errands."

Angela's head was spinning again, this was all too much, she wasn't thinking clearly when she muttered, "but I always wanted to get married at the house."

"You did?" Tony said, obviously they hadn't discussed this at all.

"Well, sure, the house means so much to us," Angela answered.

"Save it for your vow renewal," her mother suggested, but it wasn't really a suggestion. Tony and Angela were not getting out of this wedding no matter what excuse Angela came up with.

That seemed like a good compromise to Angela; not that she would admit it to her mother, "but what about all the people we'd want to share this with? Did you fly all of them down too?" She hoped not, she feared her credit card bill if her mother had taken that step.

"Relax, I've booked the Mystic Room at the club for a reception next month." So Angela's credit card wasn't going to be happy anyway.

"We can't get married, we don't even have a license," Angela thought she had her mother with that one.

"A quick stop at the clerk's office will fix that."

"You've really thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Yes."

Angela always knew it was a mistake to let her mother take care of all the arrangements for this trip, now she knew why she was so uneasy about it. "But I've been designing a special wedding band," this was true and Angela's last chance at protest, feeble though it was.

"What do you mean you've been designing a wedding band?" Sam asked, "to go with what?" After all, Angela didn't have an engagement ring; it was something the "Enough Is Enough Club" had discussed when planning this wedding, finally deciding the wedding was more important than a diamond. They reasoned that Tony and Angela could always go engagement ring shopping after they were married, it would just be another quirky aspect of their relationship.

"My engagement ring, of course."

The silence that greeted that remark made Angela realize that maybe they'd been playing a game with their family for too long. She and Tony had been so wrapped up in each other, they hadn't even thought to talk about when to include the other members of the family in their joy until recently. Angela was suddenly chastised into acknowledging that this may have been a mistake.

Sam finally broke the stunned silence, "what engagement ring?" she asked, her voice hard and angry.

Angela swallowed and looked at Tony.

Mona stepped in, "I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised...," she had no idea her daughter could be so devious.

But Samantha wouldn't Mona finish her thought, "that's it! That's what was different about you two last month," she'd been trying to figure it out since that Sunday dinner; at least she finally had the answer. This answer, however, proved to be a catalyst for hurt, "you mean you've been engaged for over a month and you didn't tell us? Sam was full blown angry at this point. Jonathan joined Sam in her anger. His Mom and Tony; engaged, he lived under the same roof and even he didn't know. Mrs. Rossini wasn't happy that they'd kept this news to themselves, but she did admire their being able to keep it a secret.

"Sam...," her father started; but she wouldn't let him say anything else. What could he possibly say to make up for this? She crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Well played, you two, well played." Mona said.

"What are you talking about, Mona?" Sam demanded, "they've been lying to us for months."

"Sam, come on, we all knew the truth of their relationship," Mona pointed out. Sam smirked, technically speaking Mona was correct, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it; it also didn't mean she had to excuse her Dad and Angela for keeping their engagement a secret. Engaged! They'd been engaged for over a month and they hadn't bothered to tell them. It stung.

"So when were you planning on telling us this minor little detail of your lives? I mean it's not like it affects us or anything." Sam was turning downright petulant; there was only one person who could deal with her at this point: Tony.

"You watch that attitude Samantha Grace Micelli," Tony warned. Sam looked abashed. "My relationship with Angela is something we have worked on for years, if we weren't ready to share the details, I'm sorry, but you'll have to accept that." Sam wasn't happy to be rebuked; but accepted her father's words, what else could she do?

"I'm sorry, Sam," Angela reached out to her, Sam took her outstretched hand, but Angela could still see the hurt in her eyes; "Sam, I always hoped that if your father and I ever did...consider being married," she still wasn't going to acquiesce to her mother, "...that you would be my maid of honor."

Sam lit up; Tony was glad to see this instantaneous change in his daughter.

"So glad you agree with that idea Angela, because we already purchased a great dress for the occasion," Mona advised.

Angela let go of Sam's hand and starting rubbing her temple to ward off the headache that was suddenly threatening to form, "did you buy me a wedding dress as well?"

"Of course."

Angela shut her eyes and shook her head. Why did she even ask?

"And we have the perfect best man, right here," she put her arm around Jonathan, he smiled.

"I promise not to throw up on your shoes, Mom."

Angela smiled and kissed her son on the cheek. Tony smiled, as far as he was concerned this was a perfectly planned wedding; it didn't really matter where it took place, they had the people they needed the most, and that was all that was really important.

"So you see, everything is all set. I will even gladly walk you down the aisle and give you away." She emphasized the last three words with a sardonic tone; but was inwardly eager for this long awaited wedding to take place and was very much looking forward to that walk and placing Angela's hand on Tony's, where it belonged.

In her unexpressed thoughts, Angela had to hand it to her mother, she really did plan the perfect wedding. She looked at Tony, again wondering what his thoughts on this situation were. He looked at her placidly.

"It's past time for you two to be married, years past," Mrs. Rossini added.

"Married," Angela whispered and looked for a place to sit down. She finally spotted a bench near the wall, she walked over the to bench in a daze and didn't sit so much as she dropped onto the seat like a rag doll.

Tony knew this couldn't be good. He followed her over, as did the rest of the family, albeit a few steps behind their leader.

"Angela, honey, what's the matter?" he said as he gently took her hand and kneeled in front of her.

If the rest of the family hadn't been so concerned about Angela's current state of being they would have rejoiced, for this was the first time any of them had heard either one of them use a term of endearment. As it was, celebration would have to wait as they carefully formed a semi-circle around Tony and Angela, shielding them from the rest of the airport travelers in a combination wall of people and luggage.

"Married," Angela said as though the word was completely foreign to her. She whispered it again, "married," turning the word over in her mind, looking for nuances, trying to comprehend its full meaning.

"We have talked about it before," he carefully reminded her. He was searching her eyes, looking for any spark of the woman he knew was in there. This current version of her was distant and worrisome.

"Can't..." she shook her head, her breathing was becoming uneven.

"Angela, slow down, you're close to hyperventilating. Relax."

"Can't..." she gasped.

"Can't what, Angela?" he held her hand a little more tightly, trying to give her strength.

"Can't...get...married...again."

He looked at her with great compassion, "stay with me, keep breathing," he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, which calmed her down. He gave her a few moments to get her breathing under control, then asked, "why can't we get married? You seemed to like the idea last month."

Angela put a hand over her heart, covering her hidden engagement ring. Last month suddenly seemed like a century ago. Desperately she gripped Tony's hand, she was close to hurting him, "Tony, it was part of the fun a month ago."

"So you didn't mean it when you said yes?"

"Yes...no...wait...I meant it...it's just that...there's a difference between being engaged and being married." She'd managed to say something coherent; obvious, but coherent; it was an improvement. "Tony, last month being married was an abstract concept. We were caught up in the fun and the romance. Now, marriage is...not abstract," so she wasn't completely back, "it's a cold, hard fact to be confronted."

"Angela, you don't have to be combative with it."

She was starting to lose any control she had left, "I can't do this again."

Tony moved to sit next to her on the bench, he put his arms around her, hugging her tightly. She rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes tightly shut, clinging to him. Sam's internal reaction was, "wow," she could see so much love. They were so comfortable with each other, she was seeing an aspect of their relationship that they had been hiding, and she liked the way it looked on them.

Tony was talking softly to Angela, "you know I love you."

"I love you too," she said into his shoulder, then pulled away in tears, "Tony, I'm sorry," in her mind, it was over; there'd be no wedding, no happily ever after for them. She tried to stand up, run away from him, but he wouldn't let her go.

"Angela, stay and talk to me, we can work this out."

"There's nothing to say Tony, we've tried everything."

"And it's worked pretty well, I thought we were happy. I know I was happy. Why are you balking now?"

"You don't understand."

"Then explain it to me, please," he implored.

"I failed."

He still didn't understand.

She saw that he didn't, "I'm a failure at marriage; I can't risk it again. I can't risk losing you."

Tony was unsure how to proceed, if she was breaking off their engagement then they would lose each other. At least that's what it should mean. Or did she mean that they would continue as they had been and never discuss marriage again? He couldn't believe this was happening. Just this morning on the plane Angela was happy; sleepy, but happy. Now she had gone through the looking-glass and was in some sort of alternate reality where irrationality reigned.

"Tony, I'm sorry," a despondent Angela cried, "I can't go through with this. Maybe...maybe...we could just keep things the way they've been."

"Angela, I love you."

"I love you too; but love doesn't conquer all and who knows what could happen in the future?"

Mona took the pressure off Tony, "Angela, no one know what the future holds. You're over complicating this. You love Tony, you have for years. He loves you, he has for years. What do you think is going to happen to tear you two apart?"

"I don't know, Mother," she tried to come up with something, anything to deflect her mother, "maybe we'll grow apart...look what happened with Michael; maybe...maybe Tony will get a job that will take him away too."

Mona was in no mood to be trifled with, it was time to put her foot down, "Enough Angela. Your relationship with Tony is not a repeat of your relationship with Michael. Tony is not Michael; thank goodness, and you are not the same person you were. For years you have tried to hide from the truth; why, I have absolutely no idea. I tolerated your excuses for years. No more. There are no guarantees in life. You have the chance for a great relationship, you've been happier the past three months than ever before. You can continue that or you can run back home, throw yourself into your work and bar the door against love, but that's no way to live. Nor do I care to console you for the rest of your life, and that's what I would be doing if you ran out now. Leaving Tony at the altar would be the biggest mistake of your life; you'd regret it forever."

Angela was still scared, terrified really; but her mother's words and more importantly, attitude, put things into perspective. She looked at Tony, "aren't you scared?"

"I'm more scared of not having you in my life."

The change in Angela was instantaneous; gone was the fear, leaving only love, "oh, Tony," she sighed as she melted into his arms and kissed him.

"Now that's more like it," Mona noted.

"Wow," Samantha finally voiced.

Mrs. Rossini pulled out a tissue. Jonathan looked around, hoping no one was looking at his mother kissing her boyfriend in the baggage claim. Angela finally stopped embarrassing her son and tried to pull herself together. Everyone handed her a tissue, which made her laugh. She gratefully took the tissues and dried her eyes. Then she looked at Tony, "So, are you ok with this surprise wedding?"

"Well, they did go to all this trouble, I'd hate to disappoint them. Didn't have any other plans for the evening anyway."

"Oh, I thought you did?" Angela said very suggestively.

A corner of his mouth turned up and his eyes glinted, "well, no plans other than plans that don't compliment a wedding, that is." Angela's grin matched his as she stole a quick kiss.

Samantha's jaw dropped, she hadn't seen such open flirtation by them in...well, ever.

"Hallelujah," Mona exclaimed, "can we go now? We have a million things to do, and don't you want to see your wedding dress?"

Angela smiled changed as she realized that she very much wanted to see her wedding dress, she rose from the bench, holding Tony's hand and pulling him up with her. They made their way to the waiting car to complete Mona's agenda for the day.

Having completed their tasks, the wedding party arrived at the hotel to dress for the occasion. The men were sequestered in one room while the women had a suite which they turned into their own private beauty salon. Mona had arranged for everything; make-up artist, hairstylist, photographer, but most importantly, a little bit of bubbly to toast the day. The women's dressing room was definitely a party where chatter and laughter reigned.

Angela was seated in front of a mirror, the make up artist completing her work. This gave Angela a few moments to reflect on the events of the day. Her fears had turned to giddiness as it was finally dawning on her that she no longer had to smother her feelings for Tony. The past few months had been fun, but there had also been a price they'd paid, one she hadn't realized until now. By keeping their romance a 'secret', she'd had to continue to repress the truth. She'd never even realized that had been a problem as repression was a constant way of life for her for years. Now that everything was finally out in the open she saw that happiness shared with the rest of her family was even better than a happiness shared between only two. She could see it in the eyes of everyone in the room, they all radiated joy. She sighed as she sat there, basking in the glow of love.

More champagne was passed around the room.

"Oh, look at the beautiful bride to be!" Mrs. Rossini said.

Angela blushed, "thank you, Mrs. Rossini."

"It's true, Angela; you've got a major bride vibe going on," Sam said, "Jonathan and I used to talk about you two getting married, but we gave up on it a while ago."

"You did? Why?"

"Why did we talk about it; or why did we give up on it?"

"Both."

"Well, we talked about it because we both wanted it and we used to try and figure out why you two couldn't see the obvious, or if you could why you weren't doing anything about it. Then we gave up on it because after years and years and years of waiting we figured it just wasn't going to happen; but we're glad it finally did happen."

Angela beamed at her, "me too."

The make up was done and now the hairstylist set to work on Angela's hair, she asked Angela if she wanted her hair up or down for the wedding.

"Up, my hair has to be up," she answered overly eagerly, then sheepishly smiled, hoping no one would notice her enthusiasm.

"Any particular reason, Angela?" her mother inquired, wanting full details.

So much for hoping no one would notice.

"Don't want it blowing around on the beach."

"Uh huh. What's the real reason?"

How did her mother always know? Exasperated, Angela answered, "Tony likes it up, ok?" She left out the fact that Tony used the word 'sexy', but she did blush at the memory; which was duly noted by her mother.

"I'm sure he does, it does show off your neck."

"Mother!"

"Angela, you are marrying him soon." At the word 'marry', Angela's eyes went out of focus as she mouthed the word, 'marry', then she giggled.

"Earth to Angela?"

"What is it, Mother?"

"Oh good, you are still with us. Here," Mona pulled a box out of her purse and gave it to her daughter.

Angela opened the box and sighed, "great-grandmother's silver comb. Oh, mother; you've been raiding my jewelry box."

"Of course dear, what kind of mother would I be if I didn't?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, and this time I don't even have to feign approval of the groom."

Angela gave her a quick glare, "you didn't feign all that well before." Mona shrugged innocently as Angela moved out of the chair to hug her mother. She sat back down and handed the comb to the hairstylist to be worked in.

The photographer kept taking pictures as preparations continued. After a while the hair stylist and make up artist finished their work with the women. They wished Angela well and left the party. The photographer completed this phase of his work and left to make sure there would be some pictures of the men in this bridal album.

After they were left alone Sam gushed, "Angela, I've been going crazy all afternoon; can I please see your engagement ring?" The wedding preparations had gone a long way in helping Sam to forgive Angela and her dad for their engagement deception.

Angela grinned as she pulled on the chain that connected the ring to her bra strap. She unfastened the chain and showed the ring to everyone.

"Oh, Angela, it's beautiful," Sam sighed.

Angela was indulging in the bliss of finally being able to show off her engagement ring. She put it on her finger and gazed at it.

"Very nice," Mona pronounced.

Mrs. Rossini said, "it's gorgeous."

"Thanks," Angela answered absently, her mind more on the ring and Tony than anything else. Her complete lack of attention to everyone else in the room was duly noted by silent looks between the three women.

"Where have you been hiding your new necklace?" Mona interrupted her reverie.

Angela smirked as she reached for her purse and pulled out the box containing her Christmas present. The rest of the women crowded in to see it close up, especially Mrs. Rossini who missed her chance to see it yesterday.

Angela put the necklace on, but somehow it was more fun when Tony did that for her.

Mona approved of the necklace as well, "he's been taking notes from being around me for so long."

"I'm sure that must be it, Mother."

Angela went back to gazing at her engagement ring, and realized something, "Mother, would you be hurt if I didn't use the wedding band you've provided for the ceremony?"

Mona didn't understand, "of course not Angela, but what are you going to use instead?"

She glanced again at her hand, "this ring, of course."

"Honey, that's your engagement ring, not a wedding band."

Angela managed to pull her attention away from her hand long enough to glare at her mother, "funny," then added, "I want to use the ring we are designing as my wedding band."

"Do you have it with you?" Mona wondered where she might be hiding that piece of jewelry.

"No, it's only in the planning stages; but I don't want to use another ring because I'd never want to take it off. If I use my engagement ring as a wedding band, I don't have to worry about it."

Mona knew the fine art of keeping the bride happy, "of course, Angela, whatever you want."

"What's the wedding ring going to look like, Angela?" Sam asked, not realizing that she was giving Angela license to gush.

Angela's eyes lit up even more as she described her ring, "it's a ring that will link with this one. The gold will curve around the diamond, capturing it, then swoop out in front, banking a little to create height, then come around to touch the gold on the other side of the diamond; but the best part is that there will be space for three diamonds in front of the engagement diamond. That diamond is my Tony diamond, the smaller diamonds are my Mother, Sam and Jonathan diamonds."

"Sounds beautiful, Angela," Sam declared.

"It will be. We only started talking to the jeweler a couple of weeks ago; there didn't seem to be a hurry, after all we hadn't even set a date."

"For an engaged couple you certainly didn't discuss the wedding much, but I am sure you were too busy _discussing _other things," her mother quipped.

Angela decided to ignore her mother's tease and addressed the mention of the wedding, "It seemed so far out in the future."

"Funny how the future becomes the present so quickly."

"To the present," Angela toasted, they clinked glasses.

In the room where the men were dressing, Jonathan and Tony were taking their time. They could afford to, they knew that four women took twenty times as long to get ready as two men did. They discussed the details of the wedding while they waited.

"Can't believe the four of you pulled this off. How long have you been planning this?"

"Since October."

"That soon after we started dating?"

"Soon? Tony, it's been seven years. Grandma didn't want to put up with you two delaying anymore. I made a joke about a surprise wedding last summer, I didn't know she was going to run with the idea. I didn't know there was any idea to run with. But this is grandma, and she was determined to make this wedding happen, trust me there was no stopping her."

Tony had no doubt about that.

The photographer arrived to document the men in the party.

A few minutes later a knock on the door announced Sam, telling her father of Angela's decision with the ring and delivering said ring to the best man. She stayed and watched as her father and Jonathan posed in every style from serious to silly. Sam joined in the picture-taking too which would produce one of Tony's favorite photos from the wedding. In it he proudly had one arm around Sam and the other around Jonathan. The photographer soon left to position himself on the beach.

"Dad, this is so cool," Sam said when the three of them were alone.

"I'm glad you approve, honey."

"There was never a time I didn't approve, Dad."

"Thanks, sweetheart."

"Tony, It's really good that you and mom are finally getting married."

"I'm glad you approve too, Jonathan."

"'Course I approve, who else is better for mom?"

"Thanks, kiddo."

There was another knock on the door, Mona opened the door and asked, "hey kid, how long does it take to deliver a ring?"

"Sorry, Mona, we got caught up in picture-taking."

"Well come on, will ya; it's time."

Sam literally jumped for joy. She hugged and kissed her father and ran out of the room.

"Tony," Jonathan started.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted you to know that...it's been good having you around; I mean you make mom really happy and all that. So, um, thanks for making her happy and for...everything."

Tony knew Jonathan was talking about more than his mother, "Jonathan, remember what I said all those years ago; we were best buddies then, and now you're my best man. It's been a great journey."

"It has."

They hugged, as they let go Tony said, "come on, it's time for your mother to make an honest man out of me."

Jonathan laughed as they went down to take their places on the beach.

Sam and Mrs. Rossini went to the lobby of the hotel, leaving Mona alone with her daughter. Mona took the moment to say a few words to her daughter, "Angela, don't get all sappy on me..."

Angela looked at her mother questioningly, to her it seemed that her mother was the one crossing over into Sappyland; but she didn't say anything and let her mother speak.

"Angela, I want you to know...that I'm happy about this wedding, and not just because I planned it. Tony has always been good for you; even better than I had hoped when I met him; and mind you, I had very high hopes for him. If you and Tony are only half as happy as your father and I were, then you will be blissfully happy. I've waited so long for this day..."

"Haven't we all?"

Mona laughed, "Angela, I never would have expected a joke from you right now."

Angela shrugged, "I don't know if it was a joke or a statement of truth; both probably."

"Come on, let's go get you married off before you surprise me any more."

"Mother wait," she hugged her, "thank you."

Mona smiled, and tried to hide the tears that had suddenly formed, she didn't quite succeed, but Angela wasn't going to mention it. They made their way downstairs to meet up with Sam and Mrs. Rossini, then walked outside together.

When Mona said a sunset wedding, she meant a sunset wedding. As the women walked from the hotel to the beach Angela absorbed the beauty around her, wanting to savor every moment of this and pressing the experience into the most prominent pages of her memories. Angela looked out over the beach, the Florida sunset was exceeding its well deserved reputation for magnificence.

The warm glow of the sun cast its beams through the clouds, creating streams of glistening light in the spaces between the clouds. The clouds themselves were a patchwork of swirling pastels. The vivid yellows, oranges and salmons nearest the setting sun melted into soft pinks and peaches as the setting sun kissed the water. The clouds farthest from the sun were tufts of gray-violet set against the backdrop of cerulean sky mirrored against the dark blue of the water. Sunlight glittered against the water, the gentle waves breaking up the solid beams to create the effect of millions of crystals floating across the water. Angela was entranced by the beauty, she could not have asked for a more perfect wedding site.

Mona wasn't going to let the romance of the location distract her from her schedule; she firmly, and elatedly, guided her daughter toward the beach. Angela noticed three people on the beach waiting for them; Tony, Jonathan and the officiant. Tony and Jonathan's tuxes were accented with pink rose boutonnieres. Angela felt herself fall a little more in love, which surprised her because she didn't think that was possible; but the combination of Tony, their family, their wedding and the location had combined to set free the vestiges of repressed love that even Angela didn't know were there. It was a toss up as to which beamed more; Angela or the setting sun.

Tony gave Jonathan a little nudge and he left to escort Mrs. Rossini down the beach, the wedding photographer tried to take pictures, but as Mrs. Rossini felt like a wreck from having cried so much she avoided the camera as best she could. When they reached the place for the wedding, Jonathan gave Mrs. Rossini a fresh package of tissues. She patted his cheek and said, "you're a good boy, Jonathan." He smiled and resumed his place next to Tony.

They all looked to see Samantha walking toward them, which only set Mrs. Rossini crying again. She was trying to hold it in, really she was; but having seen both Tony and Sam through so much pain, seeing them so happy was beyond any dream come true for her.

Sam walked down the sand, radiant from head to toe. She was wearing a soft pink tea length dress with a sweetheart neckline and a cute bolero jacket. In her hands she carried a small bouquet of cream-colored roses. Tony watched her, prouder than he had ever been; here was his little girl embodying all his dreams come true for her. She was confident and capable; but more than anything he admired her strength in being able to build a relationship with Angela. If Sam had not been able to accept Angela into her life, this wedding would not be taking place. Fortunately their relationship had been solidified years ago; today would be the icing on that cake, but that didn't stop him from being grateful that Sam approved of his choice and was supporting him as they started a new chapter in their life together. Tony was beyond glad that this was a step the whole family was taking together.

Samantha reached her father, she paused to hug and kiss him, then wiped the lipstick off his cheek. As she stepped away he said, "you look beautiful." Sam smiled at her father as she took her maid of honor place. Angela watched from the distance and sniffled.

"Don't you start," Mona warned, "there aren't enough tissues on the island to deal with that."

"Sorry," Angela answered, recovering her composure.

All eyes turned to Angela and Mona, they walked down the beach, the sound of the waves lapping against the shore the only soundtrack they needed as they neared the rest of the family. The photographer snapped picture after picture, but Angela barely noticed him as her attention was on one person and one person only. Her entire being emanated love. Tony watched her as the sunlight reflected off her, a pale glow in comparison to the way Angela was glowing. She was wearing an ankle length scoop necked sleeveless cream colored gown; its 1930's inspiration gave the dress a sleek silhouette, several godets at the hem added a dramatic flair. A matching tailored blazer kept the chill of the gulf breezes away. She carried a bouquet of pink roses, and was grateful to have her mother and the roses to hold onto because she wasn't quite steady on her own.

Mona was beaming. She took Angela's hand, Tony held his hand out close to hers. Mona firmly placed Angela's hand in his, he closed his hand around it; thus creating one of the most satisfying moments of Mona's life.

She kissed her daughter's cheek, "I love you, Angela," then she kissed Tony on the cheek and told him she loved him too. She literally had to bite her tongue to keep from saying the next words she so desperately wanted to say, which were, "don't mess this up." She wanted it to be a joke, a way to cut through the treacle, but it had taken so much to get Angela down the aisle that she didn't want to put any doubt in her daughter's mind.

Tony and Angela looked at each other, and tried to clasp their other hands together too; it was at this point that Angela remembered she was still carrying her bouquet. They both laughed a small 'oops' laugh, then Angela turned to hand her bouquet to Sam, who was now reveling in her maid of honor role; this was even better than she had ever imagined.

Mona took a step back to stand next to Mrs. Rossini. They had decided against chairs as it seemed a little silly to have one guest seated for the bride and one for the groom. They also reasoned that they would have a much better view of the wedding if they stood. Mona took it all in, relieved that all her secret planning had come together; but was even more happy that she'd finally heaved those two in front of a preacher. "Hallelujah," she thought, "it was about time."

As for Tony and Angela; they were quickly forgetting anyone else was even there, so lost in each other's eyes were they. Sam looked on from her appointed place next to Angela and sighed. Mrs. Rossini cried some more. Jonathan thought his mom looked really happy, and also thought it was wonderful symmetry that he was standing next to Tony while Sam was standing next to his mom. He caught Sam's eye and smiled; she beamed back, which only made him smile more.

"Dearly beloved," minister Brogan started,

Mrs. Rossini sobbed again.

"we are gathered here today to unite this man and this woman in the bonds of matrimony. If there is anyone who can show just cause for them not to be wed, let them speak now..."

"Trust me, nobody objects. Move it along," Mona prompted.

Angela shook her head and smiled more at Tony. He laughed. The world slipped away as they concentrated solely on each other.

Minister Brogan moved along, "we stand here where the earth meets the sea, at the time when the sun bows to the moon. Without the sun the moon cannot shine, without the moon the sun has no partner with whom to share its light. Without water the earth is arid and desolate, without the earth water is formless and searching. The lessons of partnership are imparted by many teachers, the elements teach us that two working together are stronger than one. When we embody this lesson to create partnership in our own lives we too are strengthened. Our lives will also reflect the glow of companionship, the comfort of steadfast friendship, the tenderness of a healing touch, and the stalwart support to carry cherished hopes from dream to reality. Today we gather to celebrate the marriage between two people who embody these traits for each other; from talking with the mother of the bride, this day has been long-awaited. Very long-awaited."

This produced a moment laughter for the bridal party, not enough to be disrespectful, just enough to keep the participants from being overly emotional. Angela even took a second to glance at her mother who did her best to look innocent. She quickly turned her attention back to Tony and they looked at the minister.

Angela gripped Tony's hands to keep herself from being completely overcome with emotion; he squeezed back as best he could considering how tightly Angela was holding him. She looked around at her beloved family members and hope they saw the gratitude in her eyes. She was beyond words and couldn't even try to speak.

"Do you Anthony, take Angela to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love, honor, cherish, comfort and keep her until death do you part?"

Tony barely realized there was anyone else on the planet when he looked into Angela's eyes and said, "I do."

They held each other's hands even more tightly.

"Do you Angela, take Anthony to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love, honor, cherish, comfort and keep him, until death do you part?

"I do," her face illumined by so much love that the sun was dim by comparison.

"I'd normally ask you to hold hands at this point, but since you already are, we will proceed."

Tony and Angela's smiles grew even wider.

"Anthony, repeat after me, 'I, Anthony, take thee Angela to be my wife..."

"I, Anthony, take thee Angela to be my wife,"

"To have and to hold from this day forward..."

"To have and to hold from this day forward,"

"For better, for worse; for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health..."

"For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,"

"To love and to cherish, forsaking all others, 'til death us do part."

"To love and to cherish, forsaking all others, 'til death us do part."

Angela was trying to hold back the tears, but they were threatening to fall. Fortunately her mother noticed this and came to her rescue by dabbing her eyes with a tissue, leaving Angela free to keep holding on to Tony. She smiled her gratitude to her mother.

"Angela, repeat after me; I, Angela, take thee Anthony to be my husband..."

"I, Angela, take thee Anthony to be my husband,"

"To have and to hold from this day forward..."

"To have and to hold from this day forward,"

"For better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health..."

"For better, for worse; for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,"

"To love and to cherish, forsaking all others, 'til death us do part..."

"To love and to cherish, forsaking all others, 'til death us do part."

The officiant looked to Jonathan, "the rings please."

Jonathan stepped forward, proud to be part of this long-awaited event. He gave the rings to the minister who held them and said, "the rings symbolize the vows you have given to each other. Anthony, please take the ring and place it on your beloved's finger." Minister Brogan noticed a slight problem and whispered, "I'm sorry, but you will have to let go of each other for just a moment or two."

Angela blushed shyly and let go of Tony just a little. He smiled.

The minister then told Tony the words to say. He looked his bride in the eye as he repeated, "Angela, I give you this ring as a reminder of my love and commitment. With this ring, I thee wed."

As he slipped the ring on, Angela couldn't stop a sharp intake of breath; even though Tony had placed this very same ring on her finger just over a month ago, this time the ring held greater promise and a stronger commitment. As his hand touched hers again the full force of one word hit her: married. She and Tony were on the verge of being married. Even though they'd said the words it didn't feel real until that moment.

Tony's ring was handed to Angela; she didn't need the officiant to repeat the words; she slid the ring on Tony's finger and said, "I give you this ring as a reminder of my love and commitment. With this ring, I thee wed."

They clasped hands again so quickly even the minister was surprised by the speed. Never before had he seen a couple so good at saying a non verbal, "I love you." It was time to wrap up this ceremony, "having thus pledged yourselves each to the other, I do now, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the state of Florida, pronounce you to be husband and wife. Your family has requested to say a few words." Tony and Angela curiously looked around as their beloved family all said together, "will you please kiss the bride!" Tony and Angela shared a short laugh, then set to fulfilling their family's wish.

After an extensive kiss which ended with Tony and Angela still gazing at each other as no one else existed, the minister finally felt the time was right to say, "ladies and gentleman may I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Micelli."

Minister Brogan had been through many ceremonies in his life, but he had never seen one end quite like this, for instead of letting the newly married couple walk away to start their new life together, the whole family, simultaneously, closed in around the happy couple in a spontaneous group hug. The photographer snapped pictures from every angle. Angela was sure she had never been so happy as she could feel the love of her whole family enveloping her. She looked in to Tony's eyes and saw that he felt the same way. It shouldn't have been such a surprise, after all, they were a very loving household.

The group loosened their grip on each other just a little, Sam returned Angela's bouquet to her; and the family posed for more pictures on the beach before walking back to the hotel en masse for final pictures and the wedding reception.


	17. An Unexpected Christmas Present Part III

Some updates: A great big thank you to everyone still reading. I am unable to keep up with posting every Saturday, so from now on I will post when I can. There is much more to come with this story. However, there will be no more M rated chapters. I'm sorry, but if I wrote every single M chapter for the rest of this fic, I would never finish it. There will be plenty of implied M; including this chapter. Once again, thank you for reading, it keeps me going.

An Unexpected Christmas Present Part III

A private dining room held six ecstatically happy people. The family was gathered at a round table; Tony seated at Angela's left, with Mrs. Rossini next to him. Jonathan was situated in between Mrs. Rossini and his grandmother, with Sam completing the circle, bridging Mona and Angela. A white tablecloth and a centerpiece of pink roses were the bridal decorations. Champagne was poured and enjoyed. The wedding reception was in full swing when Sam asked, "why didn't you two do your traditional Christmas morning dance to, "In The Mood" yesterday?"

"How could we Sam? If we had danced, the difference between this year and all the previous years would have been obvious," Angela answered.

"Completely ignoring the fact that not dancing was a glaring admission of the truth," Mona pointed out.

The realization stunned Angela, how could she not have seen that, "oh, yeah," was her sheepish answer. Her companions around the table laughed slightly, all except for her beloved husband who was too busy gazing adoringly at his new wife. He touched her cheek and she looked at him, the very definition of a blushing bride.

"So dance now," Sam suggested, hesitantly, she didn't want to break up the picture before her; but forcing them onto the dance floor would provide a new opportunity for picture-taking.

"Here? We don't even have any music," Angela protested. She did have a point, there was no music; or at least, no music other than the sedate, 'music to dine by' in the background to be precise. As no one counted that as music, Angela was correct in her assessment.

"Since when do you two need music?" Sam stated a truth there.

"Come on, Angela; I missed dancing with you yesterday," her new husband leaned toward her to whisper in her ear. She looked at him, her eyes sparkling even more than the champagne, a small smile tremulously appeared as she blushed. She nodded in agreement. The word "no" would be microscopically existent from this day forward in Angela's manner with Tony. He stood up and held his hand out to her, she took it and they stepped away from the table.

Four eager faces watched them dance; it wasn't possible for Tony and Angela to be self-conscious because they were lost in their memories as well as each other. Also, it wasn't as if they hadn't danced in front of their family before. Sam looked at them and sighed, finally; finally they were together. They looked so right together, in her eyes they were the epitome of the perfect couple. She hoped that someday she would have a relationship like that; one based on trust and friendship, but with that little spark that turned everything from mundane to ethereal.

Ethereal was definitely how the happy couple looked at the moment, dancing away to their favorite song, even though it was only playing in their hearts. Mona had never had a more satisfied look on her face than the one she expressed at the moment; and that was saying something because Mona was often a very well satisfied woman. Jonathan felt a sense of completion, like at last the inevitable had happened. He accepted this gladly, but certainly wasn't going to go overboard like the rest of the family was. For instance; Mrs. Rossini, who had left her chair and was taking pictures of Tony, Angela and the rest of the family from every angle possible. The professional photographer was adept at avoiding her, he was far too experienced at this to let an amateur get in his way.

Dinner was mercifully served, the photographer took his pre-arranged chance to disappear for a while. He would return when the cake was brought in; then conclude his duties at the completion of the cake cutting and depart. Mrs. Rossini put away her camera, temporarily sparing Tony & Angela from any more blind spots from the flash photography.

Angela suddenly realized she was hungry and savored every bite of dinner as though she had never eaten before, although she would never recall what it was she actually ate. There was too much euphoria to concentrate on something as commonplace as food, no matter how good it was; plus her mother was taking pleasure in a jab or two, "eat up, dear; you'll need your strength for later," earned giggles from the rest of the family, but only glares from Angela and Tony. Tony willed his mother-in-law to behave with his glare. She pouted, but reigned in her sarcasm; even if she did consider Tony's silent admonition unfair. After all, no matter what she said, Tony and Angela were going to have more fun tonight than she would, so why shouldn't she take her fun where she could get it?

After dinner a small white cake with pink roses and a crystal heart-shaped topper was carried to the table. Angela sighed loudly at the sight of the beautiful cake and wanted to cut into it immediately; but was stopped by the children.

Sam and Jonathan moved to stand in front of their parents. They put an arm around each other and held a piece of paper out between them. Sam started speaking, "to our Mom and Dad...

Angela was already searching for a tissue, her mother pushed some over to her, she mouthed, 'thank you' and even though they were still seated, she leaned on Tony for support. He put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Angela gave up the pretense; who was she kidding? There was no way she was going to make it through this without the strength of her husband surrounding her. She snuggled her way into his lap, he held her more tightly. Now comfortable, she clutched the tissues and smiled at the kids to continue.

Jonathan took his turn, "the two people who have been there for us through everything."

Then they said together, "you've sacrificed so much for us; putting your relationship on the back burner to devote yourselves to us. You may have thought we didn't notice, but we did. We noticed everything. And we waited."

Sam alone said, "and waited."

Jonathan took his turn, "and waited."

"and waited," an exasperated Sam's turn.

"and waited," Jonathan sounded like all the weight of the world was on him. The rest of the family laughed; Mona wryly, but relieved.

Back together the kids said, "but at some point we learned that you were teaching us that love isn't a fairy tale."

Jonathan continued, "it isn't the cliché diamonds and flowers that advertisers; sorry, Mom," she smiled at him, "try to sell us as being the only way to love."

They continued taking turns, Sam taking the next line, "love is supporting each other through your darkest moments."

"It's being there for each other, no matter where or when."

"It's shared laughter around the dinner table."

"It's taking care of each other, when you're sick and when you're well."

"It's walnut brownies." Angela's face lit up when Sam said that one, or at least it lit up as well as it could through her tears.

"It's family movie night on the couch." Tony smiled in remembrance of many happy nights on the couch; not all of them necessarily having to do with movies.

"It's a look across a crowded room," those looks had always kept Sam going when she hoped for a real relationship from them, she thought no one could look at each other the way they did and not be madly in love, and that thought sustained her through the years as she impatiently waited for her Dad and Angela to get together.

"It's compromise," Jonathan would be pragmatic.

"It's dancing; not because it's the only way to be close, but because you don't want to dance with anyone else."

"It's making each other laugh."

"It's learning from each other and growing together."

"It's bringing out the best in each other." At Jonathan's words, Mrs. Rossini sobbed; she tried to sob on Mona's shoulder, but Mona brushed her off. Tony quickly and briefly took one hand off Angela to squeeze Mrs. Rossini's hand in support. She was very grateful for his concern.

"It's an evening spent talking."

"It's treating a child in need of a parent as your own," Jonathan and Sam were back together again on that one.

"It's a basketball game in the driveway," Jonathan had noticed that his mom and Tony had been playing more basketball recently. Angela was amazed, she had no idea the change was this obvious.

"It's supporting each others dreams and doing anything you can to make those dreams come true."

"It's showing us that even though saying the words is important; the deeds are important too."

"It's the joy of knowing your best friend is also the person you trust the most to take care of your heart." Sam got Mona with that one; she tried to hide her emotion by suddenly finding something very interesting to look at through the windows of the dining room. No one was fooled, after all, there was nothing to see in the darkness, but they let her get away with it. Angela wanted to reach out to her mother, feeling that her mother was thinking of her father; but as she herself was a sobbing mess, there wasn't much support she could give; and her mother would only have brushed her off anyway. Mona recovered quickly, she wasn't going to let anything interfere with tonight's joy.

Jonathan forged ahead, knowing that even though emotions were on display, everyone was, underneath it all; happy, "it's patience, honesty, compassion and forgiveness."

"It's being around someone you can be yourself with because they accept you for who you are," Sam said before Jonathan joined in with her again to finish their toast.

"You're the best mom and dad anyone could ever hope for; thank you is not sufficient for all you've given us. Today you start a new chapter in your lives together, we hope each day brings you ten times more love and joy than you've already shared throughout the years."

They put down the paper and reached for their champagne glasses before they said, "finally; we want to say, hallelujah, it's about time! Salut!" They clinked glasses with each other, then touched Mona and Mrs. Rossini's glasses as well. Angela tried to join in, she really did, but she could barely pick up her glass long enough to touch Tony's glass and take a sip of champagne. The rest of the family recognized her dilemma and made the effort to bring their glasses to hers; the lovely sound of glass touching glass creating their own pealing wedding bells.

Angela dried her tears and held out her hand. The kids walked over, she clasped Sam's hand, then using every once of strength in her managed to tear herself away from Tony's support long enough to hug each child. She couldn't stand up, that was a task beyond her capabilities at the moment; but she held them and said, "Thank you, that was the most beautiful toast I have ever heard. I love both of you so much."

She was overwhelmed again by the answering, "we love you too, Mom," also in unison. She kissed each child then sank back into Tony's arms and let his warmth and strength encompass her. Tony wanted to stand up to hug the kids, but his new wife required more attention right now. He reached out to say thank you to the kids; seeing his predicament they walked over to him and hugged him as best they could. "Thank you," he said to them in reference to the toast, "I didn't know you two were paying such close attention over the years."

"Everyone was paying close attention," Mona stated the obvious.

"You more than anyone else, Mother."

"Watching you two run from each other for seven years did have some entertainment value. You should have listened to me all those years ago, Angela. I know what's best for you; and, as always, I was right. You've been happier the past few months than you have ever been. Face it, Mother knows best."

"Yes, Mother," Angela humored her mother; but wasn't really all that focused on her.

Mrs. Rossini tried to dry her eyes, but could only blubber out, "that was the most beautiful toast I have ever heard," she sniffled, "you should have that framed."

"'s a wonderful idea, Mrs. Rossini," Angela managed to answer, her head resting on Tony's chest, which he certainly did not mind.

"I'll make sure it happens," Mona declared, she didn't trust anyone else at the table to be thinking clearly enough, "I'll have your marriage license framed too, as a wedding gift."

"Oh, Mother, what a wonderful idea! Thank you!" Angela gushed.

"If I could, I would have it bronzed," Mona deadpanned.

"I'm sure you would. Why not make copies and hand them out to all your friends as party favors too," Angela joked.

"Don't tempt me," Mona answered, secretly noting that handing out copies of the marriage license would be a fun event for the future wedding reception. It would be easy enough to do under Angela's nose at the office; after all, the copy machine was her domain. Her decision quickly made, Mona returned to the present, "now, will you please cut the cake, or are you going to wait for seven years to do that too?"

Angela decided not to dignify her mother's "joke" with a response. Instead she smiled and looked at Tony, he smiled back at her. Together they picked up a knife and cut the cake while the photographer clicked away. They pulled out one slice; chocolate, of course, and placed it on plate. Tony then procured a fork and quickly culled the perfect sized bite for Angela. He thought about teasing her with it; infinitesimally briefly, after all, they did have a wedding night to celebrate later and he didn't want any anger to interfere with the perfect evening. The look Angela was giving him also dissuaded him from kidding around, her eyes were sparkling, her face aglow with love; she looked at him with such affection that he was awed and humbled by the freedom of her emotions as currently expressed contrasted with the way she had been repressing them previously.

He touched the fork to her lips and she closed her mouth around the cake as though it were ambrosia from heaven; which in Angela's heart and mind, it was. "Mmm," she sighed, her eyes closed in ecstasy as she tasted the morsel.

Tony wondered how quickly they could leave their own wedding reception.

Angela opened her eyes and looked at Tony with a rather devilish glint. She couldn't know what he was thinking, could she? He wouldn't put it past her. But instead of suggesting they find someplace a little quieter, Angela took the fork from her husband and proceeded to extract a piece of the cake for him. The way she managed that alone made Tony swallow in anticipation. Angela grinned inwardly, she loved beguiling Tony. "Open your mouth and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise," she vamped.

Tony disobeyed and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Angela, there are other people here, tone it down, will ya?"

"Well, if you insist." She pretended to be slightly hurt, then brought the fork close to her lips as though she was going to eat the second bite herself. Seeing Tony's alarm out of the corner of her eye, she burst out laughing and fed the cake to him. She then gave him an apologetic quick kiss for teasing him. He didn't mind the teasing. In fact, if Angela kissed him, she had his absolution to tease him whenever she wanted.

Mona had to put her hand over her mouth to hide her grin as she noticed that Angela didn't even bother to use a fresh fork. Everyone else noticed it too, but no one commented. Jonathan just shook his head, wondering how he was possibly going to live in a house with newlyweds. Sam was glad that everything had worked out so well and that her Dad and Angela were obviously very much in love and very happily married.

"You gonna share that cake with the rest of us at some point?" Mona brought the two oblivious guests of honor back to the ground.

Angela gave her an, 'of course' look.

Mrs. Rossini took charge, she reached over to the cake, "here, I'll cut the rest of it; I don't think we can really trust either one of you with a sharp object." She finished the cutting and distributed the cake to the rest of the family; who enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as Tony and Angela enjoyed it.

Angela didn't mind being relieved of cake cutting duties; after all, the less cake cutting she had to do, the more time she could spend concentrating on Tony and the way his delicious lips enclosed around cake. "Lucky cake," she thought; then wondered how quickly they could depart their own wedding reception.

Tony disrupted her plans by wanting to get back to something Mona had said that intrigued him, "What did you mean when you said, 'all those years ago'? Just how long have you been trying to push us together, Mona?" her new son-in-law asked.

"From the day before you moved in, if I know my mother," Angela answered, and she did know her mother.

"Don't be silly, Angela. I had to see how well he got along with Jonathan first."

"So, five minutes after I answered the door?"

"About that, yes."

Angela rolled her eyes; there was no way her mother could be serious about this and she wasn't going to play along.

Tony was amused by the conversation, but he sensed there was more to the story, and he was curious,"Mone, you said specifically that Angela should have listened; implying you said something to her. When?"

"Which time?"

"So there was more than once?"

"Of course," Mona counted on her fingers in fond remembrance, "let's see, there was the morning Angela woke up thinking she had slept with you the night before..."

"Mother! I did not want that secret known!"

"Too late; and why not? Tony knew about it years ago; if you lived through the embarrassment of him knowing, you'll live through everyone else knowing too."

"What about the kids!"

Mona leaned over and stage whispered to Angela, "What about them? I think they are old enough to learn the truth."

The kids were interested, very interested if judging by the shocked expressions on their faces. Mrs. Rossini wasn't quite as shocked, but she was very intrigued.

"We were drunk, and nothing happened," Angela declared.

"_You_ were drunk. I had to sober up to put you to bed," Tony reminded her.

"Wait. You put Angela to bed?" It was a question both Sam and Jonathan wanted answered, but neither would dare to ask, so they were both grateful to Mrs. Rossini for asking instead.

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed, resigned to his fate; now that this was out in the open, he had to clear it up, "It was Angela's birthday. She went out with friends and came back...very happy." Angela smiled at his choice of words. "We baked a cake..."

"You mean you tried to bake a cake," Mona corrected, remembering the disaster area masquerading as a kitchen the next morning.

Tony gave her a look that said if she interrupted again there would be no more story. She wisely kept her mouth shut; grinning, but shut.

"As I was saying, we baked a cake; Angela...got tired, I carried her upstairs and put her _on _the bed, still wearing her clothes. I got her nightgown and pulled a quilt over her. Then I left."

"You left out the kiss," Mona prompted, ever so fake innocently. Tony was amazed Mona had managed to keep her mouth shut for even that short a time.

"Mother!"

"You told her?" All these years Tony had thought that to be their little secret, so much for secrets.

"I was hung over."

"Great," Tony sighed.

"Wait, which birthday was this, and where were we?" Sam asked.

"Angela's first birthday after we moved to Connecticut. You and Jonathan were in Brooklyn."

"You used me as part of your sordid plot?" Mrs. Rossini, asked, pretending to be shocked.

"There was no plot, and there was certainly nothing sordid," Tony answered.

"Well, why not? You two all alone in the house; it was the perfect chance to be sordid," Mrs. Rossini admonished.

"They must be making snowballs in Hell right now; because for once I agree with her," Mona said, although it took every ounce of strength she had to say it.

"Can we get back to this kiss, please?" Sam wanted all the details she could get.

"We were drunk; it doesn't count," Angela said with finality.

"The hell it doesn't," her mother said. So much for finality.

"I don't remember it," Angela said; trying to deflect in any way she could. It was a tactic doomed to fail, not only because everyone could see right through it, but also because Angela couldn't keep a smile off her face and her eyes from becoming even more unfocused.

"Another lie," her mother pointed out.

For reasons known only to themselves, Tony also started grinning. They caught each others eye and started laughing. Tony leaned to whisper in his wife's ear, "so Angela, do you remember, '_losing each other as friends'_? Angela collapsed into giggles on her husband's shoulder. The rest of the family just stared at them as they lost themselves to their past. Angela finally pulled herself together long enough to grin wickedly at her husband and say, "uh huh; you?"

"Oh, yeah," was all he had to say to send her off into another fit of giggling. He watched her, charmed and delighted; a smile on his own face with enough wattage to light up Dubuque on its own.

Mona shook her head; these two were in their own little world. It was the most revolting display of gooey infatuation she had ever seen; and she had seen a lot. They had shed their repression and jumped into reckless abandon with no stops in between. Things were going to be very different around the house. Whether this was a change for the better remained to be seen. For now, Mona was going to have a little more fun with them, she barged ahead, "then there was the morning after your second anniversary..."

This created the desired effect as Tony and Angela managed to stop gazing at each other. Angela blushed and turned away from Tony. She picked up a fork and tapped it against the plate as a way of controlling her anger and embarrassment at her mother for bringing this up. She tried to glare at her mother; but her blissful state of being couldn't allow it.

"Whoa, wait a minute; what happened then? Wasn't Dad in the hospital with appendicitis?" Samantha's eyes widened as she continued, "what else happened that you haven't told us?" Although her curiosity was nowhere near satisfied on this whole birthday kiss phenomenon; this new information Mona introduced piqued her interest even more.

"Oh, just an 'I love you' and a very confused and scared Angela, that's all," Mona dropped ever so not nonchalantly. Even though she said the words as indifferently as possible, everyone knew Mona was inwardly exultant over having these tidbits to tease her daughter with. Judging from the long ago dates of some of these events, Mona had been waiting for years for just the right moment to strew these potentially jaw dropping secrets publicly; which, indeed, she had, and it hadn't been easy for her to keep these secrets all this time.

"You told your mother about that too?" Tony asked Angela, even though the answer was obvious. Was there any moment in their past she hadn't shared with her mother? He hoped they still had some secrets; he decided it would be something to discuss when they were finally alone.

"I wasn't sure how to handle it, ok?" Angela turned to her husband, exasperated; then turned away to glare at her mother for dropping that secret. She shrugged honestly nonchalantly in return, she was immensely enjoying watching the reactions of everyone around her. The kids and Mrs. Rossini had eager 'tell us more' looks on their faces.

"I tried to get her to see the light Tony, I really did; but she was always stubborn and absolutely terrified of her feelings for you," Mona shared.

"I think you are over-stating the situation, Mother," she tried to deflect. Her mother had gone too far; that post-surgery chat was deeply private to Angela; or it least it had been before her mother decided to broadcast it to the world.

"You were terrified and grasping at any excuse you could come up with," Mona said, winning the argument. Also true, and Angela was not happy with her mother for bringing that up.

"Please tell me what happened, Angela, I'd really like to know," Sam interrupted the mother-daughter squabble. The last thing she wanted was for a full blown argument to erupt during a wedding reception. If she could get Angela back to whatever had happened that night, it should diffuse the situation.

Angela looked at Tony; he nodded. Since her mother had started the conversation, there was no backing out of it now. Angela was not going to let her mother tell the story though, she wanted it told truthfully, not with any embellishments her mother would add, and Angela shuddered to think about the embellishments her mother would inevitably add.

"I don't really know where to begin..." Angela started, she took a deep breath, the remembrance of seeing Tony so vulnerable that night still sent a ripple of fear through her, "your father was in the hospital, just before they wheeled him in to surgery..."

"I was drugged," Tony defended himself.

"True," Angela agreed quickly, "and no one can be held to anything said under that much anesthesia." The less discussed about that night, the better, Angela decided.

Mona's "bwack, bwack," chicken noises in response to Angela's statement caused her daughter to cross her arms and glare at her while simultaneously evoking laughter in the kids.

"You really said, 'I love you' then?" Sam wanted confirmation. She'd waited so many years to hear them say "I love you" to each other, and they'd said it years ago; or, at least, her father had. Of course they all remembered Angela saying the words; but her being asleep at the time negated them. What a waste. Samantha toyed with the idea of bringing up Angela's revelatory birthday, but decided she didn't dare cross that line; however she did wonder why it seemed so many important things happened around Angela's birthday.

"As I said, I was drugged. End of discussion."

As far as Mrs. Rossini was concerned it was most certainly not the end of the discussion, "it took you five years from your first 'I love you' to get to the altar?" She raised the back of her hand to Tony's head, "stunod." Tony backed away in defense.

"Pathetic," Mona agreed.

"How can you say that? Our relationship has always been complicated." Angela defended her new husband.

"It was only complicated because you two were too stubborn to acknowledge the truth," Mona cut through the denial with laser like truth.

"I want to hear the whole story," Sam persisted.

"I don't know what there is to tell you, honey," Angela answered, "your father was in the hospital, going in to surgery. He was worried about what would happen to you if...anything happened to him...," this was a painful thought five years ago; now, Angela stopped mid-sentence, unable to even acknowledge that she could someday lose Tony.

Tony noticed his wife faltering and squeezed her hand, silently telling her that he would take over telling the story. She looked up at him gratefully. "I asked Angela to take care of you if anything happened to me," Tony said. Sam smiled, glad to know that Angela would have been there for her if she needed her. Angela momentarily tore her fond gaze away from her husband to smile at Sam, then went back to smiling at her husband, just to make sure he was still alive and well.

"My memory is a little foggy here, but apparently as I was being wheeled out of my room; and remember I was very drugged," he wanted to make sure this was clearly understood, "I said, 'I love you'."

Angela beamed in remembrance; if she had been able to put any sort of focus anywhere else around the table she would have heard sighs from both Sam and Mrs. Rossini. Little smiles appeared around the table; except for Mona who elected to go for a full grin; finally, vindication was hers. She let Tony and Angela have their moment of gazing at each other then said, "and how did that make you feel, Angela?"

Angela was going to fight sarcastic fire with sarcastic fire, not taking her eyes off Tony she said, "your psychology degree has no power here, begone, 'doctor' before somebody drops secrets you don't want told too."

Mona ignored her and pushed forward, "Very well, I'll bide my time. Ok, it's bided; now answer the question, everyone wants some honesty out of you two."

"I plead the fifth," Angela smiled, still not taking her eyes off Tony.

"Angela, we are losing patience."

Angela rolled her eyes, "fine. I was shocked," and she finally managed to stop looking at her husband only to snuggle up to him even more to say, "and scared," which was said so softly everyone had to strain to hear her. Tony kissed her hair.

"But did you love him?" Mona asked even though she knew the answer.

"If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been so confused at the time; it would have been easy to ignore the whole thing," Angela answered evasively.

It was a hollow victory for Mona; here was her daughter, now married to this man and she still couldn't express how she felt about him in the past.

"So you talked about it?" Sam asked, wanting as many details as she could get; they were exploring topics she hadn't even known existed and she wanted the full story on their romance.

Tony and Angela looked at each other, silently trying to figure out how to answer that question. "You could say we danced around the topic the next morning," her father answered.

"You mean you avoided it," Mona answered a little more honestly.

"No, we simply chose to...not talk about it," Angela tried spin the truth.

"You avoided it," Jonathan said simply.

Tony tried to control the conversation, "when I woke up that morning I barely remembered who I was, let alone anything I said. It was the nurse who mentioned it. I did not handle that news well. You don't tell your boss you love her..."

"You do if you love her," Mona said, enjoying every second of this.

Angela crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

Tony did his best to express thoughts it took him years to come to terms with, "it could have been a very awkward situation; no, it _was_ an awkward situation; both of us unsure of how the other felt. Each of us trying to get the other to say something. Wondering what would happen if we did cross that line; but in the end, backing away. It wasn't the right time; deep down, I think we both knew it."

Angela agreed, and added one more thought, "but there was that little hope that we would broach the subject again someday." Something changed in their relationship that day. They'd moved from a work based relationship to a 'friendship with a possibility of more' basis of their relationship. How ironic that it happened as they were celebrating their work relationship; and without them even knowing it.

"Yeah?" her new husband asked; at the time of their original 'conversation' he hadn't been so sure they would ever return to the subject. He was alone in a hospital room wondering if his relationship with Angela had been irrevocably damaged. After all, she let him off the hook. He'd wondered at the time if that was because she wasn't interested in him at all.

"Yeah," his new wife confirmed; somehow healing the memory of the sadness of a lonely man in a hospital bed with that one word; to say nothing of the confused and lonelier woman she was as she lingered in the hospital hallway.

"But did you mean it, Dad?"

"I don't know, Sam; it was a long time ago. In some way, yes, I meant it; but if you compared it to the way I feel now, then it was nothing."

Angela looked at him and radiated nothing but love.

"It's so sad, all those years you could have had together," Sam said.

"It would have been too soon, Sam," her father stated.

"He's right, Sam, we weren't ready yet," Angela agreed.

Sam still didn't agree with them, she didn't think it would have been too soon at all; but as she didn't have a say in the matter and as it was all moot at this point, she kept her mouth shut.

Mona, however, didn't; and now it was time to have some fun with Tony, and torment Angela some more while she was at it, "and don't forget the time I tried to give you a push, Tony; you were just as stubborn as Angela."

"Mona," Tony warned. She answered him with the most innocent look she could imagine.

"When was that?" Angela asked, silently noting that she was going to have to ask Tony for the full report on this later.

"Your birthday a couple of years ago, the one you spent at_ Joe's_," Mona teased.

Tony glared at Mona.

"Oh, that birthday," Angela was sorry she asked, "I don't think we need to reiterate that birthday. At. All," she said, using the no nonsense Executive Angela tone of voice to show she meant it.

"No need, I got the whole story from Joe; and I've already shared it with everyone else anyway," her mother answered blithely. Sam couldn't believe Mona brought that birthday up; but was also thrilled, Mona's recitation of Joe's information at one of their club meetings only whetted her appetite for the full story.

"Great," Angela sighed, defeated.

"You two had the perfect opportunity then, why did you do anything about it?" Her mother continued.

"Mona, as I told you then; Angela was sleeping, she couldn't be held to anything she said," Tony reminded her.

"Call me Mother."

"Mother?"

"Yes, it might make it more difficult for you to lie to me that way."

"You know I am not lying to you, _Mother_, you were part of that conversation." Calling Mona 'Mother' was not going to last beyond that one time, that was for sure.

"I was referring to the conversation you had at _Joe's;_ my son-in-law, I'd like to hear about it from your point of view," Mona persisted.

"There's nothing to tell, _Mother_;" okay, maybe twice; but that one was for defensive sarcasm purposes only.

"Nice try, but I know there was a hug involved," Mona played her ace.

The rest of the family was looking at them; also expecting details. There was no getting out of this, Tony and Angela knew it; but how were they to talk about something so special to the two of them, yet retain some of its intimacy for themselves? At least Joe had been polite enough not to eavesdrop on their conversation, or if he had, he'd been polite enough to keep the details to himself.

"There isn't much to tell, we had to discuss it since I knew Tony knew I said...something. Believe me, I didn't want to discuss it," even after all this time she still couldn't come to terms with what she said in her sleep; which, considering she was now married to the man was ridiculous, but Angela was still embarrassed by her past. She wished her mother would drop this topic, but knew that wasn't going to happen.

"So you backed away again?" Mrs. Rossini said, shaking her head at all the lost time.

Tony was so close, so very close to a sarcastic, "no, we didn't back away, in fact we were secretly married that night, all this time and you haven't noticed?" But his innate respect for her kept his mouth shut. If Mona had said that, all bets would have been off; not out of disrespect, there was just a different dynamic in his relationship with his now mother-in-law. But Mona hadn't said it, so he answered Mrs. Rossini, "we weren't ready. Either one of us."

That should have been the end of the discussion, but Sam was so lost in romance tonight that she wanted more details, "tell us more about the hug," she prompted.

"What's to tell?" Angela looked at Tony, "It was a hug, a nice hug; I can't believe Joe betrayed us and told you about it, Mother."

"I can be very persuasive," Mona's Cheshire Cat grin caused Angela to roll her eyes.

Angela looked at Tony and touched his cheek, she was almost glad their hug had been betrayed because it was bringing happy memories, "I never wanted to let you go," she said softly, "and I was sorry that we weren't ready yet," she looked into his eyes, "and I was desperately hoping I wouldn't have any more dreams like that." Tony laughed and pulled her close, kissing her temple as she snuggled in to him.

"Reality beats dreams any day, doesn't it, Angela?" her mother teased.

"Mother!"

Mrs. Rossini decided to change the subject, sort of, "what is it with you two and Angela's birthday?" Sam was secretly glad she asked because now she didn't have to tackle that subject.

"Well, it's one of my favorite days on the calendar," Tony answered.

Angela pulled away to look at him, she broke into a huge smile, then kissed him.

Sam looked across the table at them and sighed.

Eventually Tony whispered, "I hope your birthday wish came true."

She looked at him, "oh, it did," she whispered back.

There was a limit to Mona's treacle tolerance and as those two were now exceeding it, she needed to get them back to the present and fill them in on all the important information, "so what finally made you two ready? You were very close to spending the rest of your lives claiming the, 'we weren't ready' excuse. What finally sent you over the edge?" she demanded to know.

Tony and Angela looked at each other, trying to figure out the answer. They both shrugged. Angela tried to formulate some sort of a response, "I don't know that it was one thing, Mother. It was more...not wanting to maintain the status quo anymore." Tony and Angela smiled at each other over the way they'd upset the status quo of their relationship.

"Maybe we were finally...ready," Tony suggested.

"Or maybe you were tired of waiting," was Jonathan's theory.

"That too," his mother agreed, wholeheartedly; "suddenly it seemed that all the reasons we had for staying apart weren't so important anymore. You two have grown to a point where we wouldn't lose you if things didn't work out between us."

"Wait a minute, don't blame us for staying apart. We were both always all for this," Sam interrupted; Jonathan nodded his head in agreement with her.

"Sam, think of it, if you father and I had tried a relationship earlier and it hadn't worked; you would have moved out, been gone from my life;" she acknowledged her son, "and Tony would have been gone from Jonathan's life. It was too great a risk." Even to this day she couldn't bear the thought of losing Sam or of Jonathan losing Tony.

"So that's it? We grew up and you two finally decided it was time?" Jonathan tried to clarify.

"There was more to it than that, Jonathan. I'll be graduating in May and my life will have new possibilities. I'll be something more than 'Angela's housekeeper' and 'Sam's Dad'; not that I don't love being your Dad, Sam; and it's still very true that you'll always be my little girl. There just comes a time in life when you can't define yourself by your kids." The kids understood.

Angela had something to say, "Tony, I told you in Jamaica, it doesn't matter to me what you do."

"Stop right there," Mona had them, Angela had referenced Jamaica and she didn't even have to bring up the subject herself, Angela was unwittingly giving her mother the opening she wanted, she seized the opportunity, "Jamaica. We want answers. Now."

This wasn't going to be good. Tony and Angela looked at each other; if they didn't want to talk about Joe's; then they certainly didn't want to talk about Jamaica.

"I'm losing patience, you had Angela on the beach, in the moonlight; in Jamaica; we all saw it," Mona pressed.

"Except me," Mrs. Rossini pouted. Sam had told her the story, of course, and even though it was the next best thing to being there, it still wasn't as good as being there.

Tony and Angela tried to avoid the faces of everyone else at the table; it wasn't working. Mona tapped a finger on the table, "do you need a reminder?"

"No!" Angela answered quickly, then blushed. She turned to Tony; although he should have been concentrating on how they were going to disclose as little as possible about that night, he was too distracted by the charm of Angela's blush. They looked at each other, unable to agree on how to approach this topic; which truth to be told, neither wanted to approach. Their conversation had been significant and full of promise. Fulfillment of that promise had been delayed by their own choices. There were times in the ensuing months when; unknown to the other, both Tony and Angela wondered if that promise would ever be fulfilled. Going back to that night wasn't going to erase the pain, and neither wanted to revisit that pain at their wedding reception.

"Let's just say, I wasn't ready yet," Tony said with enough emphasis to end the conversation; he hoped.

"Obviously," Mona said under her breath.

"Did you say something, Mother?"

"What? Me? Of course not, Dear."

Angela crossed her arms and looked at her mother dubiously; but decided it was probably best to let whatever her mother said go.

Sam wanted more answers, she'd been intrigued about Jamaica ever since her little chat with Angela, and now, she hoped, she could finally have her curiosity satisfied, "was that the first time you discussed marriage?"

Tony started laughing, "the first and up until our engagement, one of the very few. Only under threat of penalty from the Federal Government did we ever discuss the topic."

"You should have stayed married," it was no surprise to anyone that Mona felt that way and expressed it emphatically.

"It wasn't what we wanted, Mona."

"No, it wasn't," his wife agreed, "we wanted romance and flowers and..." Angela was starting to ramble, her eyes unfocused, she was fading off, losing her way in the realization that when the wedding actually happened, it did happen the way they wanted; in fact they were still in the midst of the experience. Fortunately, the day she and Tony were married was living up to the dreams she had on the day she and Tony were un-married.

Now that Angela was lost in romance, Sam saw her chance to hear all the engagement details she'd been denied up to this point. Angela's starry eyes and showing off her ring while preparing for the wedding only tantalized her; she pounced, "now that you're married, do you think you could tell us about the proposal?"

Angela's focus returned instantaneously, finally a topic she wanted to talk about. Mona saw the change in her daughter and marveled at her ability to reign herself in so quickly. "That must have been some proposal," she teased her daughter.

"Oh, it was," she sighed in fond remembrance, her eyes lit up again as it dawned on her that she could finally let everyone in on the secret, she hadn't realized how much she wanted to share that wonderful evening with the rest of their family.

"Angela; yo, Angela, spill, will ya?" Sam was losing patience.

Angela clasped Sam's hand across the table; she told her the whole story, from the long train ride home to the moment the ring was slipped onto her finger.

Mrs. Rossini was sobbing and wiping her eyes again.

"Wow," Sam said at several moments throughout the story and at the end.

"Can you say something other than, 'wow'? You've been saying it all day," Jonathan said.

"Sometimes there just aren't any other words," Sam sighed.

"Nice work, Tony," Mona approved.

"Thanks Mona, it achieved my objective."

"I'll bet it did."

"Mother."

She shrugged innocently.

"I still can't believe you planned our wedding without us knowing about it," Angela said.

"Our original intent was to finally push you two together, we named ourselves the 'Enough Is Enough Club'," Mrs. Rossini stated.

"Imagine our shock when you two actually managed to get together without our help," Mona quipped.

"I'll never forget that morning," Jonathan said, then added, "no matter how hard I try to," under his breath.

"It was a great morning," Mona affirmed.

Angela turned to her mother and said, "I'm surprised you didn't throw a party when you found out."

"Don't worry, dear, we did; fortunately you bought all the lies I came up with to explain the charges on the agency's credit card that month."

Angela shook her head and grinned wryly, then asked, "when did this club of yours start?"

"Just after the Sock Hop. We'd had it with both of you; if there were such a thing as the Nobel Prize for stubbornness you two would have won it for that night," her mother continued, "you outside moping over Tony while he was inside singing to you."

"He wasn't."

"Yes, I was," Tony defended himself.

Angela looked at him in awe, "you were?"

"Of course."

She kissed him; kissed him the way she so desperately wanted to kiss him last summer. All the sadness she remembered from that night was washed away, leaving only a beaming bride in its place.

The rest of the family watched this kiss with smiles on their faces; their wedding kiss was wonderful, but this one might top it.

Mona took note of the way Tony and Angela were silently reminiscing and knew the wedding reception was over, "fun though this has been, we have a plane to catch in the morning," she dropped.

"We do? Where are we going?" Angela questioned.

"We, meaning the four of us, have a charter to Key West," Mona explained.

"Key West? I thought everyone was staying here." Angela still wasn't following.

"Staying here? You two are on your honeymoon. Six is a crowd," Mona pointed out the obvious.

Angela was startled by this realization; in her mind this was still a family vacation, the fact that it was indeed their honeymoon caused her to charmingly blush. She leaned back into Tony and giggled. He put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head and said, "you are so cute."

"You're the epitome of a blushing bride, Mrs. Micelli," Mrs. Rossini said.

Angela gasped and leaned over Tony, another action he did not mind at all, to clutch Mrs. Rossini's hand, "say that again, please?"

"What? That you're blushing like crazy?"

"I think she means the 'Mrs. Micelli' part," her mother said, enlightening Mrs. Rossini.

Angela did indeed mean that part, but couldn't confirm this as she was giggling once again.

"Fine," Mrs. Rossini looked Angela in the eye and said, "Mrs. Micelli," which only caused Angela to snuggle back into Tony's arms and giggle even more.

"Oh, Mrs. Micelli," Sam wanted part of the fun too.

Angela complied and smiled at Sam, continuing her giggles.

Jonathan was not partaking in this game. Tony wasn't either, although he was flattered by Angela's response to her new name, it seemed the ladies were carrying this a little too far. "Enough," he said simply. Angela pulled away to look at him, "why, Mr. Micelli, what's bothering you?"

"There is nothing 'bothering' me, Angela," he emphasized; but then stopped as he saw a little sadness creep into her eyes. "As I said, there is nothing bothering me, Mrs. Micelli..." he really didn't have to say anything more as this had its intended effect as Angela once again collapsed into giggles.

Jonathan rolled his eyes, "I'm going to have to move out of the house."

"Jonathan, don't be ridiculous," his mother pulled herself together long enough to say.

"You expect me to live with...newlyweds? You won't be able to keep your hands off each other. Maybe Sam and I can get an apartment together somewhere," Jonathan suggested.

"No," was his mother's simple answer.

"I think it's nice seeing them like this; it's what we always wanted isn't it? To see their love acknowledged instead of ignored as they did all those years?" Sam declared.

The family members were in agreement with that; but Jonathan still had a good point to make to his sister, "you don't have to be around it all the time."

"Maybe I could move back home." Sam heard the words come out of her mouth, but it was like someone else was saying them, she didn't know where that idea came from. She couldn't move back home; could she?

Angela managed to cut through her wedding induced euphoria long enough to say, "Sam! That would be wonderful!" Tony also approved of the idea.

"I don't know, Sam, they've been so lovey-dovey it's been downright revolting," Jonathan warned.

Angela said, "we have not been that bad," which she really believed.

"Please! You two haven't seen yourselves from an objective point of view," Jonathan corrected.

Perhaps her son was right, Angela relented, "Jonathan. We won't be so 'lovey-dovey' when we get home."

"Are you sure?" he asked very dubiously.

Angela looked at Tony, he gave her an 'I don't know' look for an answer. She wished she could calm her son's fears, but in her heart, she didn't want the honeymoon effect to ever go away.

Mona was once again the voice of reason, "This isn't something to worry about now, you two have a marriage to consummate, which shouldn't be too difficult with all the Honeymoon Practice you two have managed the past few months."

"Practice makes perfect; it's the first rule of sports," Tony said.

"Then you two should be Nadia Comaneci at the Olympics by now," Mona countered.

"You got that right," Tony agreed.

"Tony!" Angela said, trying to pretend to be aghast at his words, but unable to pull it off through her uncontrollable laughter.

Mona intrigued them with her next statement of fact, "there's champagne waiting for you in your room."

"Well, why didn't you say so? What are we doing hanging around here?" Angela said, making it sound like the champagne was the only enticement to leaving.

"And new night clothes too," Mona said rather suggestively.

Now Angela was scared; very, very scared, "great," she said, rather sarcastically.

"But don't worry, the rest of your boring clothes are there too; not that you'll need them," Mona retorted.

"Mother!" Then she said to Tony, "she's going to be insufferable from now on, isn't she?"

"Yup," he agreed.

Her mother affected a 'who, me?' look, "what?" she shrugged, "everyone knows you're on your honeymoon. Good night, you two."

"She's kicking us out of our own wedding reception," Angela pouted to Tony.

"Fine, we know when we're not wanted," Tony pouted back.

"Guess we'll have to leave."

"Guess we will."

All four of their dining companions said together, "go!"

Angela tore herself off of Tony's lap and held out her hand to him, he joined his hand with hers and stood up as well. The rest of the party also got out of their chairs, Sam ran over to Angela to hug her; then her father. They held each other for a long time, when they let go Sam was a little overcome with happiness, "we've waited so long, it's so nice to see you two so happy. Please, always stay this way."

"We'll do our best, Sam," her father answered as he wiped away a stray tear or two from his daughter's face. She nodded and remained leaning against his side.

Jonathan came over to hug his mother, "I'm happy for you too." Angela held him and said, "thanks, honey." He turned to Tony, Sam moved over to lean against Angela as they watched their beloved men share a quick hug. Angela wiped a few more tears away from Sam's face, then she and Jonathan stepped away from their parents. Sam still appreciated having someone to lean on as Jonathan put his arm around her to watch the rest of the goodbyes.

Mrs. Rossini was next to hug Tony, which only set her off into another round of tears. "Tony, there were so many dark days when I was angry at the hand you'd been dealt. The unfairness of it all...now, at least happiness has returned..." she could say no more as she broke down into more tears.

"Thanks, Mrs. Rossini, I couldn't have made it through the worst without you."

This caused Mrs. Rossini to sob even more; but she realized she had to let them go, she wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry, it's just so beau...beaut..."

"I think she means beautiful," Sam said as she walked over to lend support to Mrs. Rossini. She nodded her head as she turned to Angela; then caught Angela up in a bear hug so tight, Angela thought she might suffocate.

"Thanks, Mrs. Rossini," Mrs. Micelli said as she patted her back. Sam pulled her away from the happy couple and the three of them returned to the table for more champagne.

Mona walked the couple to the doorway. She hugged her new son-in-law and said, "Tony, I want you to make sure Angela always has that sparkle in her eyes."

"I'll do my best, Mona."

"See that you do."

"After all, I would want to be a disappointment to my mother-in-law."

"That's a good son-in-law."

He kissed her cheek and let go so she could hug her daughter, "oh, the times I almost lost patience with you two. Now, will you please go and I don't want to hear from you until we are back in Connecticut."

Mona stepped away from Angela, but Angela wasn't quite ready to leave yet, "Mother..."

"Now is not the time for a sappy speech, Angela."

"It's actually the perfect time, Mother; but I will just say thank you, for everything."

Mona smiled, "you're welcome."

Then hugged again, quickly, then Mona said, "get out of here, will ya."

Angela kissed her mother, then took Tony's hand. They turned around long enough to wave goodbye to their family, then didn't see them again until 1992.

Tony and Angela followed Mona's directions to their room. They were thrilled to find it was much more than a room; it was an unusual octagonal shaped bungalow at the end of a very private winding path, facing the water. Angela tugged Tony's hand to hurry him along the path; but he stopped as she opened the door. She turned back to give him a questioning look; he answered by picking her up and carrying her across the threshold, firmly shutting the door behind them with his foot. All Angela could think, and thinking itself was becoming an effort, was that married life was wonderful.

"Make sure we do this when we get home too," Angela managed to say.

"The picking you up or consummating part?"

"Both," she said as though that should have been obvious.

"Of course."

A short hallway opened into the bedroom; Tony put his wife down, but still held her hand. They looked around the room, it was beautiful. Floor to ceiling glass took up four sections of the room; the middle two panels were French doors that opened on to a wrap around deck. A hot tub was tucked into one corner of the deck. Moonlight was streaming through the windows. They walked to the door, opening it to let the sound of the waves caressing the sand on the beach waft up to them.

They squeezed hands and continued out to the deck enjoy the moonlight. Tony put his arm around his wife as she put her head on his shoulder. They gazed out over the water for a few moments, until Angela drew her head away and pulled just far enough apart to face him. She touched his cheek, "Tony, it's our wedding night," she said with vulnerable wonder, the day had been so chaotic, that it hadn't really dawned on her that this long awaited night had finally arrived.

Tony looked at her with so much love, he touched her waist, "yes, it is," he said softly.

Although they knew a night of delights waited in the room, they didn't want to miss the romance of the balcony. There was tenderness in this moment as well as they simultaneously pulled each other closer and lost themselves in a lengthy kiss. When they finally separated they smiled at each other and silently decided to leave the outside world for a while.

Closing the balcony door behind them, they gazed around the room, they saw the promised champagne set up in a corner, and the feared night-clothes on the bed.

"When did she have time to do this?" Angela asked, amazed.

"She must have had the hotel staff take care of it."

"Hmm, good point," Angela trepidatiously walked to the bed to confront whatever it was her mother thought appropriate for their wedding night. When she saw her mother's choices, she was relieved; confused, but relieved, "tasteful, I have to say I am surprised. A nice silk robe for you."

"And a very slinky satin nightgown for you," Tony approved, touching the gown.

Angela looked at the nightgown, "it's not very different from what I'm wearing now; maybe we could save it for another night."

"You don't want to change?"

"Why waste the time? There are other considerations...," she deftly tugged the end of his bow tie.

"Such as?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, wondering what she might astonish him with now.

"Tony, they say all men look good in a tux, but you elevate it to an art form. I've always thought you should be confined to two states of dress: in a tux or naked." He let out a sputtering laugh of surprise at her confession. She had more to say, "I've yet to determine which I prefer, but I'm willing to conduct more research on the hypothesis; in the name of scientific research and the benefit of mankind, of course."

"Of course; and just how would this research 'benefit mankind', Angela."

"Well," she leaned closer, "I know I would be very," she kissed him quickly, "very," another short kiss, "very happy," she put her arms around him, starting her research by kissing him much more thoroughly. Tony helped her with this research by encircling her with his arms, and holding her tightly.

Although Angela conducted research throughout the night the only conclusion she drew was that further research was warranted.


End file.
